Qass 



Book Mgth 



32 





EXPOSITION OF PSALM CXIX. 



AS ILLUSTRATIVE 
OF THE CHARACTER AND EXERCISES 
OF CHRISTIAN EXPERIENCE. 



BY THE REV. CHARLES BRIDGES, M. A. 

VICAR OF OLD NEWTON, SUFFOLK. 



EIGHTH EDITION. 



PUBLISHED BY R. B. SEELEY AND W. BURNSIDE: 
AND SOLD BY L. B. SEELEY AND SONS, 
FLEET STREET, LONDON. 

MDCCCXXXIL 




Eschar. f>-e 
WeBtera Ont. Univ. Library 

APR 3 1940 



L. E. 



SKKI.EY AVn sons;, W525TOV fiREEN, 
THAAIES niTTOy, SURREY. 



^ PREFACE, 



A CONSIDERABLE portion of the Sacred Volume (as 
the Books of Psalms and Canticles in the Old Testa- 
ment, and a large part of the several Epistles in the 
New Testament) is occupied with the interesting sub- 
ject of Christian Experience ; and exhibits its character 
under different dispensations of religion, and diversified 
with an endless variety of circumstances, as ever essen- 
tially the same. As the same features of countenance 
and elevation of stature have always marked the human 
species m the midst of the creation of God; so an 
identity of feature and "measure of the stature of the 
fulness of Christ" has, in all ages and under every 
shade of outward difference, distinguished the family 
of God, as "the people that should dwell alone, and 
should not be reckoned among the nations." i This 
indeed was to have been expected. Human nature 
has undergone no change since the fall. In its un- 
renewed state it is still captivated in the same chains 
of sin ; and, when renewed, it is under the influence 
of the same Sphit of grace. " That which is born 
of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the 
Spirit is spirit." 2 We might therefore have conceived, 
that the modern believer, when employed in tracing 
the records of Patriarchal or Mosaical experience, 

' Numb. XXiii. 9. 2 John 6_ 

A 2 



iv 



PREFACE. 



will mark in the infirmities of the ancient people 
of God a picture of his own heart, answering, as in 
water face answereth to face ; " ^ and in comparing 
their spiritual- exercises with his own, will be ready 
to acknowledge — ^^All these worketh that one and 
the self-same Spirit, dividing to every man severally 
as he will/^ ^ 

In this view, it is the object of this work to exhibit 
an Old Testament believer in a New Testament garb, 
as one " walking in the same spirit, and in the same 
steps" with ourselves; and, in bringing his features 
of character to the Evangelical standard, it is pre- 
sumed, that the coiTespondence will be found to be 
complete. Faith which worketh by love ^ — the 
fundamental distinction of the Gospel — pervades the 
whole man ; with at least an implied reference to the 
one way of access to God,^ and a distinct regard 
alike to the promises, ^ and to the precepts,^ of 
Divine revelation. Nor are the workings of this 
principle delineated with less accuracy. In all the 
variety of Christian feelings and holy conduct, we 
observe its operations leading the soul into com- 
munion with God, and moulding every part into a 
progressive conformity to his image. When we view 
the " man after God's own heart" — taking God for his 
portion 7 — associating with his people, ^ and feeding 
upon his word ; 9 when we mark his zeal for his 
Master's glory — his devotedness and self-denial 
in his Master's work — when we see him ever ready to 
confess his name,!^ to bear his reproach, and caring 



1 Prov. xxvii. 19. 

2 Gal. V. 6. 

5 Ver. 25, 32, 49, 74, 169, 170. 

^ Ver. 57. « Ver. 63, 79. 

10 Ver. 139. Ver. 38. 

13 Ver. 45, 46, 115, 172. 



2 1 Cor. xii. 11. 

Ver. 41, 88, 132, 135. 
® Ver. 66, 166. 
9 Ver. 47, 48, 97, 111. 
12 Ver. 62. 

11 Ver. 23, 69» 87,-141, 



PREFACE. V 

^nly to answer it by a more steady adherence to his 
service i— -do we not in those lineaments of character 
recognize the picture of one, who in after times could 
turn to the churches of Christ, and say~^' Where- 
fore, I beseech you, be ye followers of me ? 2 Qr 
can we recollect the Psalmist's insight into the extent 
and spirituality of the law of God,^ and his continual 
conflict with indwelling sin 4— -awakening in him the 
spirit of wrestling prayer,5 and confidence in the God 
of his salvation 6_and not be again forcibly reminded 
of him, who has left upon record the corresponding 
history of his own experience— We know, that the 
law is spiritual ; but I am carnal, sold under sin : I 
was alive without the law once : but when the com- 
mandment came, sin revived, and I died ; O wretched 
man that I am ! who shall deliver me from the body 
of this death? I thank God, through Jesus Christ 
our Lord ! " t In short, let his instancy in prayer s 
and praise 9 be remembered— his determined i<> and 
persevering 11 cultivation of heart religion 12 and prac- 
tical holiness ; his hungering and thirsting after 
righteousness;!^ his jealous fear i§ and watchful 
tenderness 16 against sin, and regard for the honour 
of his God ; i7 his yearning compassion over his 
fellow-sinners ; is his spiritual taste ; i9 his accurate 
discernment ; 20 the " simplicity of his dependence,^! 
and the godly sincerity of his obedience ; 22 his 

I Ver. 51, 78, 157. 2 ^ Cor. iv. 16. 

' Ver. 96. 4 Ver. 113, 163. 

I Ver. 25, 28. 6 Ver. 114, 176. 

' Rom. vii. 9, 14, 24, 25. s Ver. 145—149 

\ Ver. 164. 10 Ver. 5, 36, 80. ^1 Ver. 44, 102, 112. 

' Ver. 30—32, 59, 60. i3 Ver. 106, 167, 168, 

1^ Ver. 20, 40, 131, 174. i5 Ver. 161. 

Ver. 11, 37, 133. i7 Ver. 39. is Ver. 53, 136, 158. 
Ver. 103, 140. 20 Ver. 98—100, 104, 129, 130. 

^1 Ver. 8, 10, 86, 116, 1 17. y^j.^ 128. 



Vi PREFACE; 

peace of mind and stability of profession his sane* 
tified improvement of the cross ; - his victory over the 
world ; ^ his acknowledgment of the Lord's mercy ; ^ 
his trials of faith and patience ; ^ his heavenly liberty 
in the ways of God ; ^ his habitual living in his 
presence, 7 and under the quickening,^ restraining,^ 
directing,!^ and supporting influence of his word — let 
these holy exercises be considered — either separately, 
or as forming one admirable concentration of Christian 
excellence — and what do we desire more to complete 
the portrait of a finished Christian upon the Evangelical 
model ? Is not this a visible demonstration of the 
power of the word, in '^perfecting the man of God, 
and furnishing him thoroughly unto all good works ? " 

Having explained the Evangelical character of this 
Psalm, some notice may next be taken of its peculiar 
adaptation to Christian experience. The several 
graces of the Christian system, delineated in this 
Psalm, form an excellent touchstone of the sincerity 
of our profession, by marking its practical influence 
in our daily walk and conversation ; — a touchstone, 
which appears especially needful in this day of pro- 
fession ; not — as warranting our confidence in the 
Saviour, or as constituting in any measure our ground 
of acceptance with God ; but as exciting us to give 
diligence to make our calling and election sure," 
and tending to quicken our sluggish steps in the 
path of self-denying obedience. The Writer is free 
to confess, that his main design in the study of this 
Psalm was to furnish his own mind with a correct 



1 Ver. 165. 2 Ver. 67, 71, 75. 
4 Ver. 64, 65, 68. 
6 Ver. 32, 45. 
s Ver. 50, 93. 
^0 Ver. 9, 24, 30, 105. 
12 2 Tim. iii. 16, 17. 



3 Ver, 14, 36, 72, 127, 162. 
5 Ver. 81-— 83, 107, 123. 
7 Ver. 168. 
9 Ver. 101. 
11 Ver. 92, 143. 
13 2 Peter i. 10. 



PREFACE. 



vii 



standard of Evangelical sincerity in the habitual 
scrutiny of his own heart ; and if, in the course of this 
Exposition, any suggestion should be thrown out, to 
call the attention of his fellow-christians to this most 
important, but alas ! too much neglected, duty, he 
will reason to rejoice in the day of Christ, 

tb -^y has not run in vain, neither laboured in 
-''"i/ ^ Never let it be supposed, that a diligent, 
'^yerful, probing examination of the chambers of 
agery," gender eth unto bondage/' Invariably 
will it be found to open the way to a more established 
enjoyment of Christian assurance.— i7ere% we 
know that we are of the truth, and shall assure our 
hearts before him.'' 2 As therefore the preceptive 
part of Scripture thus becomes our guide in the happy 
path of filial obedience, our beloved rule of duty, and 
the standard of our daily progress ; we shall learn 
m the use of it to depend more entirely upon the 
Saviour, fresh energy will be put into our prayers,, 
and the promises of pardon and grace will be doubly 
precious to our souls. 

It cannot then be, that these views of Christian expe- 
rience should be found unfriendly to the best happiness 
of mankind. We observe this Psalm to open with a 

^ ' I know of no part of the Holy Scriptures * (remarks a 
profound divine), 'where the nature and evidences of true and 
sincere godliness are so fully and largely insisted on and delineated 
as in the 119th Psalm, The Psalmist declares his design in the 
first verses of the Psalm, keeps his eye on it all along, and pursues 
it to the end. The excellency of holiness is represented as the 
immediate object of a spiritual taste and delight. God's law— that 
grand expression and emanation of the holiness of God's nature, 
and prescription of holiness to the creature— is all along represented 
as the great object of the love, the complacence, and the rejoicing 
of the gracious nature, which prizes God's commandments " above 
gold, yea the finest gold ; " and to which they are " sweeter than 
the honey and the honey-comb." '—Edwards on Religious AfFec» 
tions, Part iii. Sect. iii. 

2 I joi^n ^[^Yi 18, 20, 21. 



Viii PREFACE. 

most inviting picture of blessedness, and to describ<3 
throughout the feelings of one, encompassed indeed 
with trials superadded to the common lot of men, 
but yet evidently in possession of a satisfying portion 
- — of a ''joy, with which a stranger doth not inter- 
meddle." 1 Of those, therefore, who would aflSx the 
stigma of melancholy to Evangelical religion,orc^ are 
constrained to remark — that they understand mtely, 
what they say, nor whereof they affirm." ^ '^l-^n 
children of Edom have never tasted the clusters of 
Canaan," and cannot therefore form any just estimate 
of that goodly land. They that have spied the land, 
can bring a good report of it, and can tell them — 

Surely it floweth with milk and honey, and this is 
the fruit' of it." 3 ^'The work of righteousness is 
peace; and the effect of righteousness, quietness and 
assurance for ever." ^ 

The structure of this Psalm is peculiar— divided 
into twenty-two parts — agreeing with the number 
of the letters of the Hebrew Alphabet — each part, and 
its several verses, beginning with the corresponding 
letter of the Alphabet. ^ The whole Psalm is in the 
form of an ejaculatory address, with the exception of 
the first three verses, which may almost be considered 
as the preface to the whole, and one other verse in the 
course of it, where the man of God rebukes the un- 
godly from his presence, as if intruding into his 
^'hiding-place," and interrupting his communion with 
his God. ^— It is not always easy to trace the connexion 

1 Prov. xiv. 10. 2 I Tim. i. 7. 

^ Numb. xiii. 27. Isaiah xxxii. 17. 

^ Intelligimus ideo per literas Hebraeorum, Psalmum hunc esse 
digestura, ut homo noster, tanquam parvulus, et ab infanti^ per 
literarum elementa formatus, quibus ^tas puerilis assuevit, usque 
ad maturitatem virtutis exerceat. Ambrose. 

6 Verse 115, with 113, 114. 



PREFACE. ix 

between the several verses ; at least not beyond the 
several divisions of the Psalm. Probably nothing 
more was intended, than the recovery of the exercises of 
his own heart at different periods, and under different 
circumstances. If however they are not links on the 
same chain, in continuous and unbroken dependence ; 
they may at least be considered as pearls upon one 
stri--, of equal though independent value. The 
minent characteristic of the Psalm is a love for the 
/ord of God, which is brought before us under no 
less than ten different names,i ' referring to some latent 
and 'distinguishing properties of the Divine word, 
whose manifold excellences and perfections are thus 
illustrated with much elegant variety of diction.' ^ 
In many instances, however, the several terms appear 
to have been varied, to adapt themselves to the metre ; 
while, perhaps, at other times they may be promis- 
cuously used for the whole revelation of God ; ^ that 
the view of its inexhaustible fulness might thus con- 
conciliate a more attentive regard to its authority ; and 
might add fresh strength to the obligation to read, 
believe, love, and live in it. 

If the Writer may be permitted to suggest the 
method, in which this Exposition may be best studied 
to advantage, he would beg to refer to the advice of 
the excellent Philip Henry to his children — that they 

^ Such as way, law, judgments, words, statutes, commandments, 
precepts, testimonies, righteousness, truth. 

2 Rev. T. H. Home's Introduction to Scripture, Vol. ii. 536. 

^ As a proof of the promiscuous and extended application of 
those terms, whose definite sense is restricted to particular parts 
of revelation— -we may mark the use of the word law," applied 
by our Saviour to quotations from the book of Psalms. Compare 
John XV. 25. with Psalm xxxv. 19 ; Ixix. 4 : also John x. 34, with 
Psalm Ixxxii. 6. 'Under this word— 'Maw" '—Calvin observes 
— ' there is no doubt, but that David comprehended the sum of all 
the doctrine, which God gave to his church.' Sermons on Psalm 
cxix. verse 153. Compare Psalm xix. 7. m.arg. 



X PREFACE. 

should ^ take a verse of Psalm cxix. every morning to 
meditate upon, and so go over the Psalm twice in a 
year: and that' — said he—* will bring- you to be in 
love with all the rest of the Scripture.' ^ Not that 
the Writer presumes to suppose, that this superficial 
sketch will supply food for meditation year after 
year ; at the same time he ventures to hope, that it 
may have its use, in directing the attention from time 
to time to a most precious portion of Holy Writ ; 
which, however unfruitful it may have proved to the 
undiscerning mind, will be found by the serious and 
intelligent reader to be profitable for doctrine, for 
reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteous- 
ness." 2 

The .composition of this work has been diversified 
with as much variety as the nature of the subject 
would allow. The descriptive character of the book 
will be found to be interspersed with matter of dis- 
cussion, personal address, hmts for self-inquiry, and 
occasional supplication, with the earnest endeavour to 
cast the mind into that meditative, self-scrutinizing, 
devotional fi'ame, in which the new creature is strength- 
ened, and increases, and goes on to perfection. — Such 
however as the work is, the writer would commend it 

1 P. Henry's Life, ^Villiam's Edition, p. 247. In conformity 
with this rule, we find his godly daughter wi'iting thus in her diary, 
' 1687-8, March 9, Friday morning. I have been of late takmg 
some pains to learn by heart Psalm" cxix. and have made some 
progress therein.' Extracted from Mrs. Savage's MSS. in 
P. Henry's Life— Ditto.— As an illustration of the view given by 
this excellent man of the importance of this Psalm, in Index is 
added to this w^ork of the several matters more or less touched 
upon, to which, as well as to the texts referred to throughout the 
-work, the reader's attention is invited. 

2 2 Timothy iii. 16. Bishop Cowper sweetly calls it—' a Holy 
Alphabet — so plain, that children may understand it — so rich and 
instructive, that the wisest and most experienced may learn everv 
day something from it.' 



PREFACE. 



xi 



to the gracious consideration of the great Head of 
the Church ; imploring pardon for what in it may 
be his own, and a blessing on what may be traced 
to a purer source : — and in giving both the pardon 
and the blessing, may his holy name be abundantly 
glorified. ^ 

1 Domine Deus, queecunque dixi de tuo, agnoscant et tui. 
Siqua de meo, et tu ignosce et tui.— August. Lib. 15, de Trin. 

Old Newton Vicarage, 
January 20th, 1827, 



PREFACE TO THE SEVENTH EDITION. 



The ^ „ter cannot forbear any longer to acknow- 
ledge the kind indulgence, with which his work ha< 
been received by the Church of Christ. In the recol- 
lection of the many testimonies of acceptance and of 
usefulness which have come to his knowledge, he would 
earnestly pray, that he might be saved from the bane- 
ful gratification of self-complacent principle ; and that 
he might be humbled in thankfulness before his God 
and Saviour for the high privilege, with which he has 
m some measure honoured him, of ministering to the 
spiritual edification of his fellow-Christians 

The numerous alterations and additions in the later 
editions have not, it is hoped, altogether failed in giving 
increased perspicuity to the style, and fulness of evan- 
gelical statement to the matter. The witer has desired 
that every page should be lighted up with the beam 
ot " the Sun of Righteousness "-who is the glorv 
of the Revelation of God-the Christian's " hi i„ 
all. He has endeavoured to illustrate true religion 
as grounded on the knowledge of Christ- advancing 
in communion with Him-and completed in the en- 
joyment of Him, and of the Father by Him He 
has also aimed to elevate the standard of Christian 
pnvilege as flowing immediately from Him, by giving 
such a *cr,ptural statement of the doctrine of assu 
ranee, as may quicken the slothful to greater diligence 
in their Christian profession, and at 'the same'^e 
encourage the weak and fearful to a clearer appre 
hension of their warranted privileges. 

Old Newton, Oct. l, 1831. 



AN EXPOSITION OF 
PSALM CXIX. 



PART I. 

1. Blessed are the undejiled in the icay, who walk in 
the law of the Lord. 

This most interesting and instructive Psalm, like the 
Psalter itself, ' opens with a Beatitude for our com- 
fort and encouragement, directing us immediately to 
that happiness, which all mankind in different ways 
are seeking and inquiring after. All would secure 
themselves from the incursions of misery ; but all do 
not consider that misery is the offspring of sin, from 
which therefore it is necessary to be delivered and pre- 
served, in order to become happy or " blessed." ' i 

The character described in this verse marks, m an 
Evangelical sense, an Israelite indeed, in whom is 
no guile ^—not one who is without sin, but one who 
in the sincerity of his heart can say— that which I 
do I allow not. " 3 As his way is, so is his walk 
" in the law of the Lord:' He is strengthened in 
the Lord, and he walks up and down in his name."*— 

^ Bp. Home on Psalm i. 1. ^ John i. 47. Comp. Acts xxiv. 16. 
^ Rom. vii. 15. 4 Zech. x. 12. 

B 



2 EXPOSITION OF PSALM CXIX. 

his " ears hearing a word behind him, saying — * This is 
the way, walk ye in it ' — when he is turning to the right 
hand or to the left." ^ And if the pardon of sin, impu- 
tation of ri2:hteousness, - the communion of saints, and 
a sense of acceptance with God ; ^ — if protection in 
providence and grace, ^ and finally and for ever the 
beatific vision, ^ are coimected in the promises of God 
and the experience of his people ^vith such a way" 
as is here referred to ; then there can be no doubt that 

blessed are the undejiled in the way,^^ And if tem- 
poral prosperity,^ spiritual renovation and fruitful- 
ness,' increasing illumination, ^ intercourse with the 
Saviour, 9 peace within, and throughout eternity a 
rioht to the tree of life,^^ are privileges of incalculable 
value ; then surely the walk in the law of the Lord'' 
is the path of pleasantness and peace/' " Truly" 
— indeed may we say — God is good to Israel, even 
to such as are of a clean heart." 

But let each of us ask — What is the "way'''' of my 
heart with God ? Is it always an undefiled way ? " 
Is iniquity" never " regarded in the heart?" Is 
all that God hates habitually lamented, abhorred, for- 
saken ? Search me, O God, and know my heart; 
trv me, and know my thoughts ; and see if there be 
any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way ever- 
lasting." 13 

Again— What is my "walk?'' Is it from the 
living principle of union with Christ ? This is the 
direct— the only source of spiritual life. We are first 
quickened in him. Then we walk in him and after 

^ Isa. xxs. 21. - Psalm xxxii. 1, 2, with. Rom. iv. 6 — 8. 
5 1 John i. 7. ^2 Chron. xvi. 9. Job i. 8, 10. ^ Matt. v. 8. 
^ Joshua i. T, 8. 1 Tim. iv. 8. 2 Chron. xvii. 4, 5. 
" Psalm i. 2, 3. ^ John vii. 17. ^ Ibid. xiv. 23 ; xv. 14, 15. 
10 Verse 165. Gal. vi. 16. Isa, xxxii. 17, Rev. xxii. 14. 

1- Psalm Ixxiii. 1. Ibid, cxxxix. 23, 24. 



VERSE 2. 3 

him. Oh ! that this my walk may be steady, con- 
sistent, advancing ! Oh that I may be ever listening 
to my Father's voice— I am the Almighty God; 
walk before me, and be thou perfect ! i 

Surely there is enough of defilement in the most 
undefiled way,'' and enough of inconsistency in the 
most consistent " walk:' to endear to us the gracious 
declaration of the gospel—'^ If any man sin, we have 

an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the 
Righteous." 2 



2. Blessed are they that keep his testimonies, and that 
seek him with the whole heart. 

The testimony,^' in the singular number, usually 
denotes the whole canon of the inspired WTitinas— the 
revelation of God's will to mankind — the standard 
of the faith of his people. 3 ^< Testimonies'' appear 
chiefly to mark the perceptive part of Scripture : 
and they uniformly direct us to that spiritual delight 
and perfect freedom, which David habituailv found in 
the service of his God. Mark his language ; ''I have 
rejoiced in the way of thy testimonies, as much as in 
all riches. Thy testimonies have I taken as an heri- 
tage forever ; for they are the rejoicing of my heart," ^ 
Not however that this blessedness belongs to the mere 
outward act of obedience ; ^ but rather to that prac- 
tical habit of mind, which seeks to know the will 
of God in order to " keep" it. This habit is under 
the influence of the promise of God — " I will put 
my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my 
statutes, and ye shall keep my judgments and do 

1 Gen. xvii. 1. • . 1 John ii. 1, 

2 Compare Isa. viii. 20. ^ Yeise 138. 

^ Verses 14, III, e Treasure up his Testimonies.—Bp. Horsley. 

B 2 



4 EXPOSITION OF PSALM CXIX. 

them."i And in thus ''keeping the testimonies of 
God,'' the believer maintains the character of one 
that '' seeks him with the whole heart'' 

Oh ! how many seek, and seek in vain, for no other 
reason, than because they do not " seek him with the 
ivhole heart," The v^orldling's heart is divided r 
now shall he be found faulty." ^ The professor, '' with 
his mouth shews much love ; but his heart goeth after 
his covetousness.'' ^ The backslider '' hath not turned 
unto me with his whole heart, but feignedly, saith the 
Lord." 4 The faithful, upright believer alone brings 
his heart, his ivhole heart, to the Lord—'' When thou 
saidst-Seek ye my face, my heart said unto thee— 
Thy face. Lord, will I seek." ^ For he only has found 
an object' that attracts and fills his whole heart— and 
if he had a thousand hearts— would attract and fill 
them all. He has found his way to God by faith in 
Jesus. In that way he continues to seek— His whole 
heart is engaged to know and love more and more. 
Here alone the blessing is enjoyed, and the promise 
made good, — " Ye shall seek me, and find me, when 
7je shall search for me with your whole heart," ^ 

O let me not shrink from the question— Do I " keep 
his testimonies " from constraint or from love ? Surely 
when I consider my own natural aversion and enmity 
to the law of God, and the danger of self-deception 
in the external service of the Lord, I have much need 
to pray—*' Incline my heart to thy testimonies. Give 
me understandings-save me, and I shall keep thy 
testimonies." ^ And if they are blessed, who seek the 
Lord with their whole heart, how am I seeking him ? 
Alas! with how much distraction! with how little 

» Ezek. xxxvi. 27. ^ Hos. x. 2. ^ Ezek. xxxiii. 31. 
4 Jer. iii. 10. ^ Psalm xxvii. 8. 

6 Jer. xxix. 13. ' Verses 36, 125, 146. 



VERSE 3. ^ 

heart- work ! Am I seeking his strength" in order 
to seek his face ? " ' 

Lord ! search— teach — incline —uphold me. Help 
me to plead thy gTacious promise—^' I will give them 
an heart to know me, that I am the Lord ; and they 
shall be my people, and I will be their God ; for 
they shall return unto me icith their ichole heart'''"' 

3o They also do no iniquity ; they ivalk in his icays. 

This was not their character from their birth. Once 

they were doing nothing but iniquity. It was without 

mixture, without cessation — from the fountain-head. ^ 

Now it is written of them—'' They do no iniquity/' 

Once they walked, even as others, ^ in the way of 

their ovm hearts — enemies to God by wicked works." 

Xow they icalk in his ways.'' They are new 

creatures in Christ; old things are passed away; 

behold ! all things are become new." ^ This is their 

hig:hlv privileged state—'' Sin shall not have dominion 

over them ; for they are not under the law, but under 

grace." ^ Thej are " born of God, and they cannot 

commit sin ; for their seed remaineth in them, and 

they cannot sin because they are born of God." ^ 

Their hatred and resistance to sin are therefore now as 

instinctive, as was their former enmity and opposition 

1 Psalm cv. 4. - Jer. xxiv, 7. 

2 " Every imagination of the thoughts of the heart is evil — 
only evil— continually." And this " God saw" — before whom 
" all things are naked and open" — who seea'cheth the heart, and 
therefore cannot be mistaken. Gen. vi. 5. 

But lest we should conceive this to be the picture of some gene- 
ration of so peculiarly aggravated character, that the awful demon- 
stration of his wrath could no longer be restrained, this testimony 
is repeated by the same Omniscient Judge, immediately subsequent 
to the flood, (Gen. viii. 21.) and confirmed by him in many express 
declarations. Jer. xvii. 9, 10. Mark xv. 19. 

Eph. ii. 2, 3. Col. i. 21. ^2 Cor. v. 17. 

^ Rom. vi. 14. ' 1 John iii. 9. 

B 3 



^ EXPOSITION OF PSALM CXIX. 

to God. We do not however, mean, that the people 

S evid ^"^'"''^ °f Heavenly 

to ! ^ '"PP"^*^^ ^^'^ indwelling power of sin 
to the termination of their earthly pil^ai S 

' til J P''"^"'^ deliverance from 

temptation," as for "daily bread.'" Xo-Thev 
are smne. still : yet not <^ walking after the course^ 
not fulfilhno- the desires," of sin. The actino- of 

day of Its power." 

But are we always able to say, that we sin ao^inst 
our better will, so that " it is not we tha do t'^bn 
sm that dwelleth in us ? " » T, tb« o-^ i . 
deliverance from sin " sweet t?u?;"Tlrdro: 

::::r of ^p^^^^-^^ 

earnest of Us complete fulfilment ? Blessed Jesus ! 
what do we owe to thy cross for the present redemp- 
non f om us gudt and curse, and much more for th'e 

luTluT' -•^^ hated 

guest shall be an inmate no more ! ^ O let us take 

the very p„nt of thy death mto our souls in the daily 
crucihxion of sin. ^ Let us know the power of 
o? life/'T"'"" " " "--'k in newness 

^ Rom. VI. 6. ' Phil. m. 10. Rom. w. 4, 5. 



VERSE 4. 



7 



4. Thou hast commanded us to keep thy precepts 
diligently. 

The Psalmist here begins to direct his address to 
his God, and calls to mind those obligations to 
obedience, in which he felt his own happiness most 
nearly concerned. For even under that dispensation 
which gendered unto bondage," much encourage- 
ment was connected with the command to keep the 
Lord's precepts diligently O that there were such 

a heart in them, that they would fear me, and keep 
all my commandments always, that it might be tvell 
with them and with their children for ever." ^ But 
surely we, under a dispensation of love, can never 
want a motive for obedience ! Let the daily mercies 
of Providence stir up the question — What shall 
I render unto the Lord ? " 2 Let the far richer 
mercies of grace produce a living sacrifice" to be 

presented to the Lord."^ Let the love of Christ 
constrain us." ^ Let the recollection of the price 
with which we were bought," remind us of the Lord's 
property in us, and of our obligations to glorify 
him in our body, and in our spirit, which are his." ^ 
Let us only behold the Lamb of God ; " — let us 
hear his wrestling supplications, his deserted cry, his 
expiring agonies— the price of our redemption; and 
then let us ask ourselves — Can we want a motive ? 

But what is the Scriptural view of Evangelical 
obedience ? It is the work of the Spirit, enabling us 
to ''obey the truth." ^ It is the end of the purpose 
of God, who '' hath chosen us in Christ before the 

1 Deut.v. 29. Comp, Deut. vi. 17,18; xxviii.1,2. Jer.viii.23. 

2 Psalm cxvi. 12. ^ Rom. xii. 1. ^ 2 Cor. v. 14. 

^ 1 Cor. vi. 19, 20. ^ 1 Pet. i. 22. 



« EXPOSITION OF PSALM CXIX. 

foundation of the world, that we should be holy and 
wthou blame before him in love.- It is the on y 

W hat IS the work appointed for the day ? « Teach 
-e thy way, O Lord: I will walk in thy truth 
umte my heart to fear thy name.'- Let me mabtain 
an anxious and watchful spirit, that in my daily bus " 
ness I may be employed in the Lord's work."^ L t 
a gmrd be set upon my thoughts, my lips mv 
tempers and pursuits, that nothing may Wnde; T 
but rather every thing may assist me. In «^ 
the Lord s precepts diligently." Let there be a tralf 
for km with all the talents entrusted to me What 
;s the rea^n that I ever find the precepts to be 
grievous to me 1 Is it not that some indolence is 
indulged ; or some - iniquity regarded in my heart • " 
or some principle of unfaithfulness operating to divide 
my service with two Masters, when I should rather be 
conflictmg with besetting hindrances, and seeking to 
overcome them all in "following the Lord fully." 
Oh ! for the spirit of simplicity and godly sincerity " 
in the precepts of God. Oh ! for that love, which 
IS the mam-spring of diligence, warm and constant 
taking the place of every other motive in leading me 
on in the service of God. Oh! for a large supply 
of that wisdom which is from above, and which is 
" without partiality and without hypocrisy!"* 



VERSE 5. 



9 



o. that my ways were directed to keep thy statutes ! 

The Lord has indeed commanded us to keep his 
precepts." But, alas ! where is our power ? Satan 
would make the sense of our weakness an excuse for 
indolence. The Spirit of God convinces us of it as 
an incitement to prayer and an exercise of faith. If, 
Reader, your heart is perfect with God, you consent 
to the law that it is good; you ^'delight in it after 
the inner man ; " i you would not have one jot or 
tittle altered, mitigated, or repealed, that it might 
be more conformed to your own will, or allow you 
more liberty and self-indulgence in the ways of sin. 
But do you sigh over your short comings ; when you 
aim indeed at the perfect standard of holiness, yet at 
your best moments, and in your highest attainments, 
fall so far below it ; seeing indeed the way before you, 
but feelmg yourself without ability to walk in it ? Then, 
let a sense of your utter insufficiency for the work of 
the Lord lead you to the throne of grace, to pray, and 
watch, and wait, for the strengthening and refreshing 
influences of the Spirit of grace. Hard indeed would it 
have been for you, if your work were left upon your 
ow^i hands. But while you are constrained to confess 
your insufficiency " of yourself to think," much less to 
do, anything of yourself," at the same moment of 
inexpressible need, you are ready to exclaim — Our 
sufficiency is of God." - Yes ; " gi^ace " will ever be 
found " sufficient" for the work ; and " when you 
are weak, then are you strong." ^ " "^Vithout me " — 
saith the Saviour — ''ye can do nothing."-* But is 
your case therefore hopeless ? Far from it. You " can 

1 Rom. vii. 16, 22, 23. - 2 Cor. iii. 5. 

2 Ibid. xii. 9, iO. John xv. 5. 

B 5 



30 EXPOSITION OF PSALM CXIX. 

do all things tlirough Christ which strenglheneth you.i 
The worm Jacob shall thresh the mountains/^ when 
the Lord says— Fear not, 1 will help thee.'' 2 

But in tracing the connexion of this verse with 
the preceding, we cannot forbear to remark how 
accm-ately the middle path is preserved, as keeping us 
at an equal distance from the idea of self-sufficiency 
to - keep the Lord's statutes;' and self-justification 
m neglecting them. The first attempt to render 
spiritual obedience will quickly convince us of our 
utter helplessness. We might as soon create a world 
as create in our hearts one pulse of sphitual life. And 
yet our inability does not cancel our obligation. It is 
the weakness of a heart, that " cannot be subject to 
the law of God," for no other reason than because it is 
carnal, enmity against God." ^ And therefore our 
inability is our sin, our guilt, our condemnation ; and, 
instead of excusing our condition, stops our mouth, and 
leaves us destitute of any plea of defence before God. 
Thus oui' obligation remains in full force. We are bound 
to obey the commands of God, whether we can or not. 
^I hat then remains for us, but to return the mandate to 
heaven, accompanied with an earnest prayer, that the 
Lord would write upon our hearts those statutes to 
which he requires obedience in his word ?~^^ Thou hast 
commanded v.s to keep thy statutes diligently J' We 
acknowledge. Lord, our obligation ; but we feel om- 
impotency. Lord, help us ; we look unto thee. " that 
our ways ivere directed to keep thy statutes ! " ' Give 
what thou commandest ; and then command what thou 

^ Phil.iv. 13. 2 Isaiah xli. 14, 15. 

Rom. vui, 7. Compare Gen. xxxvii. 4. John viii. 43 , v. 40. 

2Pet. ii. 14— where the moral inability is clearly traced' to' the 
love of sin, or the obstinate unbelief of the heart, and therefore 
IS inexcusable. The case of the heathen is also described in a 
strictly parallel view, and the evil traced to the same wilful source 
Rom. i. 28. 



VERSE 5. 11 

wilt/ 1 Now, as if to exhibit the fulness and suitable- 
ness of the gospel promises, the commands and prayers 
are returned back again from heaven with promises 
of quickening and directing grace. The Lord's end 
with us is now fully answered. He did not issue the 
commands, expecting that we could turn our own 
hearts to them ; but rather that the conviction of our 
entire helplessness might cast us upon him, who loves 
to be sought, and never will be thus sought in vain. 
And indeed this is a part of " the mystery of godli- 
ness," that in proportion as we depend upon him, who 
is alike the Lord our righteousness " and our strength, 
our desires after holiness will increase, and our prayers 
become more fervent. He who commands our duty, 
perfectly knows our weakness. And he who feels his 
own weakness is fully encouraged to depend upon the 
power of his Saviour. Thus are the commands of 
God connected with the exercise of faith in Christ, 
and the promises of his grace enablmg us for duty, at 
the very time that it commands us to it.- And in this 
view are brought together the supreme authority of the 
Lawgiver, the total insufficiency of the creature, the 
full provisions of the Saviour, and the all-sufficiency 
of " the God of all gi^ace." We are led to pray for 
what we want, to be thankful for what we have, to 
ti'ust for what is promised. Thus ''all is of God." 
Christ " is the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning 
and the end, the first and the last."3 Thus ''grace 
reigns " triumphant. The foundation is laid in grace, 
and the head-stone will be brought forth with shoutings, 
crying, Grace, unto it." ^ — The Saviour's work is 
finished, and Jesus is crowned Lord of All for ever. 



1 Da quod jubes, et jube quod vis. Augustine. 

2 Quod lex imperat, fides impetrat. 
3 Rev. xxii. 13. ^ Zech. iv. 7. 



12 



EXPOSITION OF PSALM CXIX. 



6. Then shall I not be ashamed, when I have respect 
unto all thy commandments. 

The Lord expects our obedience to be not only 
" diligent " but universal. Indeed a partial obedience 
will never satisfy a child of God. The exclusion of 
any commandment from its supreme regard in the 
heart is the brand of hypocrisy. Even Herod could 
do many things/^ and yet one evil way cherished, 
and therefore unforsaken, was sufficient to show the 
sovereign power of sin undisturbed within, i Saul 
slew all the Amalekites but one; and that single ex- 
ception in the path of universal obedience, marked 
the unsoundness of his profession, cost him the loss 
of his thi'one, and brought him mider the awful dis- 
pleasure of his God.^ And thus the foot, or the 
hand, or the right eye, the con'upt unmortified 
member, brings the whole body to hell.s Reserves 
are the canker upon Chiistian sincerity. A secret 
indulgence— the rolling of the sweet morsel under 
the tongue— the part of the price kept back— stamps 
our service as a robbery, not as an offering. We may 
be free, sincere, and earnest in many parts of our 
prescribed duty ; but this root of bitterness renders 
the whole an abomination. If then I am a o-enuine 
believer, sincerity vriii be the stamp of my profession. 
Though ever ready to acknowledge my inability to 
render perfect obedience to the least of the command- 
ments, yet my desire and purpose will seek to include 
the whole compass of uninterrupted obedience. I shall 
no more venture to break the least than the greatest 
of the commandments ; much less shall I ever think 

^ Mark vi. 18—20. - i Sam. xv. 12—23. 

3 Mark ix. 44 — iS. 



VERSE 6. 13 

of attempting to atone for the breach of one by the 
performance of the rest. They are indeed many 
commandments, yet they form but one law ; and I 
know who has said—'' Whosoever shall keep the 
whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty 
of all.''i However the professor may confine his 
regard to the second table, (as if the first were cere- 
monial or obsolete, or the regulation of the outward 
man was the utmost extent of the requirement) I would 
fix my eye with equal regard to both ; yet marking 
with especial determination any command in either 
of them, that may appear most directly opposed to the 
besetting corruptions of my heart. Thus " walking in 
the fear of the Lord," I may hope to walk " in the 
comfort of the Holy Ghost; "2 and hereby shall I 
know, that I am of the truth, and shall assure my 
heart before God." ^ 

But where, in my strictest and most persevering 
walk, would be my hope of acceptance, if my eye be 
not steadily fixed upon Him, whose obedience has 
fulfilled all righteousness " * in my stead, and whose 
death ''has redeemed me from the curse " ^ of my 
unrighteousness, when repentance, prayers, and tears, 
would have been of no avail ? Yet, in what path, we 
might ask, but the way of holiness, can we expect to 
realize the enjoyment of union and commmiion with 
om- Lord? — "He that keepeth his commandments, 
dwelleth in him." *^ We cannot therefore but suspect 
that assurance of the present favour of God, which is 
not weakened by self-indulgence, unwatchfulness, al- 
lowance of secret sins, or neglect of secret duties. ^ — 
" If thou return to the Almioiitv " — said a wise man — 
" thou shalt be built up, thou $halt put aicay iniquity 

1 James ii. iO, li. - Acts i'^. 31. ^ ijohn iii. 20 

^ Matt. iii. 15. ^ Gal. iii. 13. ^ i joh^-. 04. 



14 EXPOSITION OF PSALM CXIX. 

far from thy tabernacles. Then shalt thou have thy 
delight in the Almighty, and shalt lift up thy face 
unto God." 1 Is it not then important for us to look 
into the nature and ground of our assurance ? "VVill 
it abide the test of the word of God ? Is it pro- 
ductive of tenderness of conscience, watchfulness and 
circumspection of conduct.? Does it exercise our 
souls in adding grace to grace, that we may "make 
our calling and election sure," and "an entrance 
may be ministered to us abundantly into the everlast- 
ing kingdom of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ ? " 2 
The believer's plea for assurance is found in ad- 
herence to the path of obedience-" / have stuck 
unto thy testimonies ; Lord put me not to shame. 
Let my h^art be sound in thy statutes, that I be not 
ashamed." ^ 



7. / will praise thee with uprigh tness of heart, when I 
shall have learned thy righteous judgments. 

The law of God is justly called his "judgments," 
his " righteous judgments," as marking his view and 
estimate of our character, and his rule of procedure 
with us in the court of heaven. David had indeed 
"learned" much of these "righteous judgments," 
but so much yet remained unlearned and unknown, 
that his attainments seemed to be as nothing—" Thy 
commandment "—he exclaims— is exceeding broad." * 
When the Apostle, after twenty years' acquaintance 
with the gospel, expressed it as the one desire of his 
heart— "That I may know Christ "5— it is evident 
that he entertained the same humbling views of his 
progress in divine knowledge, and the same exalted 

' ^h!^- ' 2 Peter i. 5-11. 3 VersesSI, 80. 

^^«e96. ° Phil. iii. 10-14. 



VERSE 7. 15 

apprehensions of the value of treasures yet unexplored, 
and which, as he advanced towards higher attainments, 
were progressively opening before him. Conceit of 
knowledge is the greatest enemy to knowledge, and 
the sti'ongest proof of ignorance ; so that, if any man 
think that he knoweth any thing, he knoweth nothing 
yet as he ought to know — He deceiveth himself." ^ 
But what is the motive, that enlivens the believer in 
the pursuit of more extended spiritual knowledge ? Is 
it that he may live upon the airy breath of human 
applause? Xo, rather that he may praise his God 
with uprightness of heart. We always find, that as 
oiu* mind is dark, our tongue is dumb, our lips are 
sealed, and we are unable to bear a testimony for our 
God. But when ''he opens our understandings'^ to 
learn his judgments,'' he will next ''open our lips, 
and our mouths shall shew forth his praise." 2 As his 
" judgments " may be considered to include the whole 
revelation of his word, they display that view of " the 
glory of God" unveiled "in the face of Jesus 
Christ," 3 which will ever tune the heart with the 
melody of heaven. — And this indeed is the end for 
which " his people are formed ; " ^ for which they " are 
called out of darkness into marvellous light." ^ This 
is the daily frame in which our God will be glorified."^ 
But in order to "praise with uprightness of heart,'' 
gTcat watchfulness is necessary, that it may really be 
" out of the abundance" of what our hearts have 
learned of his "righteous judgments." For it is pos- 
sible even for the real believer to speak of his Saviour 
with a secret lurking after self-exaltation. It is possible 

1 1 Cor. viii. 2. Gal. vi. 3. - Ps. li. 15 ; also verses 27, 171. 
3 2 Cor. iv. 6. Isaiah xiiii. 21. ^1 Peter ii. y. 

^ Psalm 1. 23. For an example of the uprightness of heart in 
the service of praise here alluded to, see 1 Chron. xxix. 13—18. 



lb EXPOSITION OF PSALM CXIX. 

really to be seeking and serving ourselves in the very 
act of seeming to serve and honour him. Surely the 
very thought of the selfishness that defiles our holiest 
services of praise on earth, may well quicken our 
longings after that world of praise, where the flame 
bums active, bright, incessant,— where we shall offer 
our sacrifices without defilement, without intermission, 
without weariness, without end. 



8. / will keep thy statutes : O forsake me not 

utterly. 

The resolution to keep the Lord's statutes'' is 
the natural result of having learned his righteous 
judgmentsy And on this point David illustrates 
the inseparable and happy union of " simplicity of 
dependence, and " godly sincerity " of obedience. In- 
stantly upon forming his resolution, he recollects that 
the performance of it is beyond the power of human 
strength ; and therefore the next moment, and almost 
the same moment, he follows it up with prayer — *^ / 
win keep thy statutes; forsake me not utterly:' 
What daily reason have we to beware of self-confi- 
dence, even in the course of sincerity in the ways of 
God ! As we lean upon an arm of flesh, or upon an 
Almighty Saviour, we shall stumble or advance in our 
sphitual course. If we ever seem to be forsaken, mi^ht 
it not be intended to coiTect our wantonness ? Grace 
was given in answer to prayer; but, when given, 
perhaps it was not duly prized, or diligently improved. 
" The beloved'' — in answer to solicitation—^' is come 
into his garden ; '' he knocks at the door, but the spouse 
IS asleep." The answer to prayer was not expected, 
not waited for, and therefore not enjoyed; and the 
sleeper awakes too late, and finds herself forsaken by 



VERSE 8. It 

the object of her desire. ^ Again — when we have 
given place to temptation ;2 when ''our mountain 
stands strong ; " ^ when our love for our Saviour 

waxes cold/' and our earnestness in seeking him is 
fainting ; we must not be surprised, if we are left for 
a time to the trial of a deserted state. 

But we sometimes speak of the hidings of God's 
countenance, as if it were a sovereign act, calling for 
implicit submission ; when the cause should at least 
b^ sought for, and will generally be found, in some 
unlawful indulgence, or act of unwatchfulness, or self- 
dependence. Are the consolations of God small 
with thee ? Is there any secret thing with thee ? " ^ 
It was while David kept silence '' from the language 
of contrition, that he felt the pressure of the heavy 
hand of his frowning God : ^ and perhaps the darkness 
which has sometimes clouded our paths, may be the 
voice of God speaking loudly to us — " Thine own 
wickedness shall correct thee, and thy backslidings 
shall reprove thee ; know therefore and see, that it is 
an evil thing and bitter that thou hast forsaken the 
Lord thy God.'' 7 

But how blessed is the consideration, that there is 
good ground in the word of promise, for the prayer — 

Forsake me not utterly David knew and wrote 
of the Lord's everlasting faithfulness to his people ; 
and, while he dreaded even a temporary separation 
from his God more than any worldly affliction, he 
could plead that gracious declaration — Xevertheless, 
my loving kindness I will not utterly take from him, 
nor suffer my faithfulness to fail.''^ And whilst we 
would not make the promises of grace an encourage- 

1 Cant. iv. 16, with v. 1—6. ^ 2 Chron. xxxii. 31. 
s Psalm XXX. 6, 7. Cant. iii. 1—4. ^ Job xv. 11. 

2 Psalm xxxii. 3, 4. 7 Jer. ii. 19. ^ Psalm Ixxxix. 33. 



1» EXPOSITION OF PSALM CXIX. 

ment to carelessness, it is indispensable to our spiritual 
establishment, that we receive them in their full, free, 
and sovereign declai'ation. How many fainting souls 
have been refreshed by the assurance—'^ For a small 
moment have I forsaken thee, but with great mercies 
will I gather thee— with everlasting kindness will I 
have mercy on thee, saith the Lord thy Redeemer/'— 

My sheep shall never perish ; neither shall any 
pluck them out of my hand/' i So that, while the 
humble believer dreads separation from his Lord, and 
finds his only comfort in a lowly, self-abased, and 
dependent frame, he learns to " make his boast in the 
Lord/' and to be confident of this very thing, that 
he which hath begun a good work in him, will per- 
form it until the day of Jesus Christ/' 2 And even 
while destitute of sensible consolation, his language is 
— I will wait upon the Lord, that hideth his face 
from the house of Jacob ; and I will look for him/' 3 

But is any afraid, that he will, after all that he has 
engaged, '^forsake him utterly ?" Let me ask you, 
What evidence do you find of such desertion on your 
soul ? Do you find your heart willing to forsake 
him ? Are there no mournings and thirstings after 
the return of the Lord ? He has indeed warned you 
that, ''^if you forsake him, he will forsake you/'-* 
But can you forsake him ? ' Let him do as seemeth 
him good (is the language of your heart) ; I will wait 
for him, follow after him, cleave to his word, cling to 
his cross : — " Though he slay me, yet will I trust in 
him/' Though my comfort is gone, and my assurance 
is clouded, yet hope remains ; poor and weak indeed, 
yet such as I would not exchange for the glory of an 
earthly crown/ How plain is the seal of heavenly 

1 Isaiah liv. 7, 8. John x. 28. - Psalm xxxiv. 2. Phil. i. 6. 
3 Isaiah viii. 17. ^2 Chron. xv. 2. ^ Job xiii. 15. 



VERSE 8. 



Id 



influence in these earnest breathings after the Saviour ! 
Can the Lord " forsake the work of his own hands ? " ^ 
Sooner should heaven and earth pass, than the faithful 
engagements of the gospel be thus broken. 2 

' Psalm cxxxviii. 8. 
2 Augustine's paraphrase of this verse is beautifully descriptive 
of the believer's conflict in a state of temporary desertion. ** O 
Lord, if — lest I should be proud, and should say in my prosperity, 
1 shall never be removed — it pleased thee to tempt me, yet 
forsake me not overlong ; " that is, if thou hast thus forsaken me, 
that I may know how weak I am without thy help, yet ''forsake 
me not utterly,'^ lest I perish. I know that of thy good will thou 
hast given me strength : and if thou turnest away thy face from 
me, I shall forthwith be troubled. " O forsake me not, that I 
perish not." 



20 



EXPOSITION OF PSALM CXIX, 



PART II. 

9. Wherewithal shall a young man cleanse his way ? by 
taking heed thereto according to thy word. 

Surely it must be considered as a most affecting 
proof of the natural alienation of the heart from God, 
that the youth of man—the bloom and freshness of his 
mind — his first love "—should in so large a majority 
of instances be devoted to the service of sin.i Seldom 
indeed is the cry—'' My Father ! thou art the guide 
of my yduth " s^^ttered from the heart, until the 
misery of wandering without a guide has been painfully 
felt. And even when the youthful heart begins to feel 
the touch of Divine grace, and the desire to return 
homewards is first excited ; the habit of wandering 
from God, and the long-indulged and cherished pollu- 
tions of sin seem to form an almost invincible barrier 
to progress. The inquiry then must be one of the 
deepest concern—'' Wherewithal shall a young man 
cleanse his way ? " And the answer is ready at hand. 
Let him " take heed thereto according to the word 
of God. It was thus that Joseph in Egypt,^ and 
Daniel with his young companions in Babylon,^ were 
enabled to " cleanse their way in the midst of the 
defiling atmosphere around them. It was probably 
the recollection of this purifying efficacy of the word, 
that induced the venerable Beza in his will to mention, 
among his chief matters of thankfulness to God, the 
mercy of having been called to the knowledge of the 

1 Gen. viii. 21. 2 jej.. ui. 4. 3 Gen. xxxix. 9. 

^ Dan. i. 8—20; iii. 12—18. 



VERSE 9. 21 

truth at the age of sixteen years, by which means, 
during a course of upwards of seventy years' walk with 
God, he " escaped the pollutions of the world through 
lust.'' But let us not forget, that the way can be 
cleansed by no other process than by the cleansing 
of the heart; for how can a corrupt fountain '^send 
forth" other than bitter waters ?" ^ What more 
suitable language therefore can be found for us, than 
the supplications of the Royal Penitent ?—^' Purge 
me with hyssop, and I shall be clean ; wash me, and 
I shall be whiter than snow. Create in me a clean 
heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me." 2 

The word of God is the ordinary means of this 
cleansing the sinner's heart and way. " Now ye are 
e/ea7^"— said the Saviour to his disciples— ^Arow^rA 
the word which I have spoken unto you.'' ^ Thus also 
he interceded for them to his Father—^' Sanctify them 
through thy truth : thy word is truth." ^ The hope 
of the gospel has the same end in view—'' Every man 
that hath this hope in" Christ '' purifieth himself, 
even as he is pure." ^ For this purpose also are the 
promises set before us, that '' having these promises," 
we might cleanse ourselves from all tilthiness of flesh 
and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God." ^ 
But oh ! can we lose sight of the recollection, that our 
way wants daily cleansing ?— so defiled are our actions, 
our thoughts, our motives— nay more— our prayers and 
services. Let us take heed according to the word 

1 James iii. 11, 12. ^ Psalm li. 7, 10. s John xv. 3 

4 Ibid. xvii. 17. For a striking illustration of this subject, the 
reader may refer to the account of Augustine's conversion as 
recorded by himself. Confessions, Books viii. ix. The substance 
of it may be found in Milner's Church History, Vol. 11. 353—356 ; 
and a most instructive use is made of it, as throwing Ught upon the 
doctrine of conversion, by Dr. Owen, in his valuable work on the 
Spirit. Book iii. chap. vi. , ^ . 

- lJohniii.3. ^ 2 Cor. vu. 1. 



22 EXPOSITION OF PSALM CXIX. 

of God''—AiveQ\mg us to the - fountain that is opened 
for sin and for uncleanness.'^ Let us under the same 
Divine light seek for the daily sanctifying influence 
of the Spirit of God.i - Who can understand his 
errors ? Cleanse thou me from secret faults,'' 2 
' Cleanse the thoughts of my heart by the inspiration 
of thy Holy Spirit,'^ 

10. With my whole heart have I sought thee : O let me 
not wander from thy commandments. 

We lose much of the comfort of our religion, and 
greatly obscure the glory of our profession, by neglect- 
ing to bring " ourivhole heart'' to the work of the 
Lord. T^;hen sin is vigorous, and our spiritual affec- 
tions are dull, and various chcumstances combine to put 
difficulties in the way of prayer ; this is a crisis with 
the soul, when strong faith is needed to overcome and 
to persevere. But then it is that the soul too commonly 
yields to the difficulty, and contents itself either with 
heartless complainings, or with just sufficient exertion 
to quiet the voice of conscience, and produce a delusive 
peace within. But remember that the Lord will not 
be found thus. His promise is not to such seekers as 
these ; and if we are satisfied with such a state as this, 
we must look for a very scanty measure of spiritual 
success, accompanied with the total absence of spiritual 
enjoyment. This however was not David's spirit. In 
the true spirit of Christian confidence he could appeal 
With my whole heart have I sought thee," And 
this assurance, so far fiom producing self-confidence in 
the soul, will, so far as it is genuine, be invariably 
attended with peculiar apprehensions of our own weak- 



* Zech. xiii. 1. 



2 Psalm xix. 12. s Prayer Book 



VERSE 10. 



23 



ness, and will s^ve constant occasion for the prayer — 
O let me not wander from thy commandments,^^ Yet 
the feeblest desire and attempt to seek the Lord, is the 
Spirit's rising beam in the heart, a day of small 
things" not to be ''despised."^ It is distinguished 
from every other principle by the simplicity of its 
object — ''This one thing I do." " One thing have I 
desired of the Lord; that will I seek after." ^ jyjy 
God! my Saviour! "with my whole heart have I 
sought thee. The desire of my soul is to thy name 
and to the remembrance of thee. With my soul have 
I desired thee in the night ; yea, with my spirit within 
me will I seek thee early." ^ And it is when the soul 
is thus conscious of ''following the Lord fully," that 
there is a peculiar dread of wandering , Li a careless 
or half-hearted state, wanderings are not watched, so 
long as they do not lead to any open deviation from 
the way. Secret prayer will be hurried over, worldly 
thoughts umresisted, waste of time in frivolous pursuits 
indulged, without much concern. But it is not so 
when the heart is fully in pursuit of its object. There 
is a carefulness, lest wanderins: thouo'hts should become 
habitual. There is a resistance of the first step that 
might lead into a devious path. The soul remembers 
the " wormwood and the gall,"^ "the roaring lion," 
and the devouring wolf; and in the recollection of the 
misery of its former wandering, dreads any departure 
fi'om the Shepherd's fold. This is indeed a blessed 
state of mind, and one which the flock of Christ should 
seek to cherish with godly jealousy. Yet let it be 
remembered, that daily progress in the heavenly walk 
is not maintained by the yesterday's supply of grace. 
It must flow from a fresh supply continually drawn in 

I Zech. iv. 10. ^ p^Q 13^ Psalm xxvii. 4. 

3 Isa. xxvi. 8, 9. ^ Lam, iii. 19. 



24 EXPOSITION OF PSALM CXIX. 

by humble and dependent prayer, such as— let 
me not wander from thy cornmandmentsJ' Lord, 
I feel my heart so prone to wander. My affections 
are often scattered to the ends of the earth. " Unite 
my heart to fear thy name.'' i Concentrate every 
thought, every desire, in thyself, as the one object 
of attraction.' 

11. Thy ivord have I hid in mine heart, that I might 
not sin against thee. 

What an aggTegate of guilt and misery is com- 
prehended in this short word sin " — the greatest 
curse that ever entered the universe of God, and the 
parent of every other curse ! Its guilt is aggravated 
beyond the conception of thought. Injur^^ to a 
Superior — a Father— a Sovereign ! It seems impos- 
sible to rise in our conception, so as to give an 
adequate idea of its infinite malignity. Its power is 
misery^ wherever it extends— in the heart — in the 
family— in the world. In eternity its power is un- 
resti-amed. Sometimes the death-bed scene casts a 
fearful gleam of light upon ^^the worm that never 
dieth, and the fire that never shall be quenched ;" 2 
but what besides experience can develope its full- 
gTOwn horrors ? How supremely important therefore 
to secure the object of our preservation from sin ! 
a^d how wisely adapted are the means to the end ! 
" Thy word;' (says the believer, who knows the 
sinfulness of his own heart, and the inefficacy of any 
efforts of his own to bring it into subjection)—^' thy 
word have I hid in mine heart "—there it lies as my 
treasure, which I would not lose, and my rule, which 



^ Psaim Ixxxvi. II. 



* Mark ix. 44. 



VERSE 11. 



25 



I would not transgress.' Not, however, that every 
acquaintance with the word proves an effectual safe- 
guard from sin. In some instances, indeed, Satan 
shuts out its entrance altogether, or taketh away that 
which was sown. Transient impressions of its power 
are equally uninfluential for permanent benefit. In 
many cases also is it choked by the cares of the 
world, the deceitfulness of riches, and the lust of 
other things ; and it becometh unfruitful. But 
whenever it falls on good gTound, ''the honest and 
good heart'' " hides it, keeps it, and brings forth fruit 
with patience, unto perfection." i Here it ''dwells 
richly in all wisdom, '' as a treasury to be resorted 
to, when need and occasion requhe ; as a principle 
of holiness, a covering from sin. In this view it is 
recommended by one who had well studied its uses, 
and acquainted himself with its value-—" My son, 
let them not" (the divine precepts) "depart from 
thine eyes : keep sound wisdom and discretion. So 
shall they be life unto thy soul, and grace to thy 
neck. Then shalt thou walk in thy way safely, and 
thy foot shall not stumble." 2 David also gives us 
the same experience of the power of this safeguard 
— " By the word of thy lips I have kept me from the 
paths of the destroyer." 3 And it was probably the 
recollection of many instances of preservation, united 
with a sense of continual danger, that suggested the 
prayer—" Order my steps in thy word; and let not 
any iniquity have dominion over me." 

Let us take a few illustrations of the incalculable 
blessing of thus " hiding the word in the heart,'' 
How does the word resist some insinuating bait of 



^ Luke viii. 15, with the whole parable. 

2 Prov. iii. 21 — 24. Compare Prov. ii. 10—15. 

3 Psalm xvii.4. Verse 133. 



26 EXPOSITION OF PSALM CXIX. 

pleasure, or some entangling claim of business, that 
was likely to draw back the heart to the world ? No 
man haying put his hand to the plough, and looking 
back, is tit for the kingdom of God." i Does the soul 
doubt the extent or application of mercy to its case ? 
The word says — " Him that cometh unto me, I will 
in no wise cast out."^ Thus, when hid in the heart, 
it is a preservative from unbelief. Again, the un- 
believing believer, (if the expression may be allowed,) 
is alarmed by ridicule or persecution ; but what says 
his Saviour's word ? — If the world hate you, ye know 
that it hated me before it hated you.'* ^ He fears 
that he shall never hold out unto the end ; but here 
is suggested a most encouraging word for his support 
— He huth said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake 
thee."'* He trembles lest his sins should rise up to 
his condemnation ; but the word again speaks — 'Hhe 
blood of Jesus Christ the Son of God cleanseth from 
all sin." 5 \}|(] ^Qi^ as to duties. Let his Saviour's 
word rebuke his indolence in spiritual services. — 
What ? could ye not watch with me one hour ? 
Watch and pray, that ye enter not into temptation."^ 
Let the sorrowful story of his agony in the g-arden, and 
his death on the cross, be treasured up in the heart, 
that sin may appear yet more exceeding sinful. — But 
how is the word to gain entrance into hearts like ours ? 
How shall it be hid " in so unkindly a soil ? No 
power of man surely could plant it there. The Holy 
Spirit's almighty agency must be diligently sought ; 
for in proportion as we are filled with his gracious 
influences, shall we be armed, as v/as our Master, for 
the effectual resistance of our spiritual temptation. 7^ 

1 Luke ix. 62. - John vi. 37. s j^id. xv. 18. 
4 Heb. xiii. 5. J j j^i-^^ i. 7. 6 ^^^^^ ^^vi. 40, 41, 
Comp, Luke iv. 1, 2. 



VERSE 12. ' 27 

Lastly, connected with this subject, mark the Chris- 
tian's Character — ^'^ In whose heart is my law.'' i 

His Security— Xone of his steps shall slide." ^ 

His Happiness — O how love I thy law !" His 
Victory — The word of God abideth in him, and 
he hath overcome the wicked one." ^ — All infallibly 
provided by the promises of the covenant — I will 
put my law in their inward parts, and ^viite it in 
their hearts." 5 O let us not then be afraid of a close 
contact with the word, though the cost may be by 
cutting oiF a right hand for the saving of the life. 
Xo better test can be needed of the security of our 
state with God, than a willingness to come to the 
searchmg light of his holy word.^ 

12. Blessed art thou, Lord: teach me thy statutes. 

The act of praise is at once our duty and our 
privilege. But in its highest exercise vvhat does if 
amount to, when placed on the ground of its own 
merit ? We clothe our ideas with magnificence 
of language, and deck them out with all the richness 
of imager^^ and perhaps we may be pleased with our 
forms of praise ; but what are they in his sight beyond 
the offering of a contemptible wonn, spreading before 
its Maker its o^y\\ mean and low notions of Divine 
3Iajesty ? If a worm were to raise its head, and cry 
— * O sun, thou art the source of light and heat to a 
widely extended universe,'— it would, in fact, render 
a higher praise to the sun than we can ever give to 
our Maker. Between it and us there is some propor- 
tion — between us and God none. Yet, unworthy as 

1 Isaiah li, 7. - Psalm" xxxvii. 3L 

5 Verse 97. ^ i Jq^^ ii. 14, ^vith Eph. vi. 17. 

" Jer. xxxi. 33. e Compare John iii, 20, 21. 

C 2 



28 EXPOSITION OF PSALM CXIX, 

the offering confessedly is, it is such as he will not 
despise. Nay, more — instead of spurning it from his 
presence, he has revealed himself as inhabiting the 
praises of Israel,'^ ^ — intimating to us, that the service 
of praise is set forth in his sight as incense," and at 
the same time, that it should not be as an occasional 
visit of a guest, but the daily unceasing exercise of one 
at his own home. The act of praise, however, in its 
real character, depends entirely upon the state of the 
heart. In the contemplative philosopher it excites 
nothing but barren admiration. In the believer it 
becomes a principle of practical comfort and encour- 
agement. With him the character of God is always 
an incitement to pray, and the attempt to praise gives 
strength and confidence to prayer. For in taking up 
the song of praise, can we forget who the Christian's 
God is ; and what is the revelation, which he has 
been pleased to give of himself in the gospel of his 
dear Son ; how it divests every attribute of its terrors, 
and shines before us in all the glory of his faithfulness 
and love ? The ascription of praise — Blessed art 
thou, Lord " — leads us therefore to take up the 
prophet's song of triumph — " Who is a God like unto 
thee, that pardoneth iniquity, and passeth by the 
transgression of the remnant of his heritage ? He 
retaineth not his anger for ever, because he delighteth 
in mercy." ^ Truly then he is blessed " in himself, 
and delights to communicate his blessedness to his 
people. Therefore we are emboldened to ask for 
continual ^' teaching in his statutes,''^ ^ — in the truths 
which he has revealed, and the precepts which he has 
enjoined, that we may ^' walk " with him in love," 



1 Psalm xxii. 3. - Micah vii. 18. 

3 Compare verses 64, 68, where the same acknowledgment and 
the same plea are again made. 



VERSE 12. 29 

and ''be followers of him as dear children/'^ The 
practical influence, however, of Divine light upon 
the heart constitutes its peculiar privilege. Man's 
teaching puffeth up — God's teaching humbleth. Man's 
teaching may make us more learned — God's teaching 
makes us more holy. It persuades while it enlightens. 
It draws the heart, inclines the will, and carries out 
the soul to Christo^ The tried character and faithful- 
ness of God affords a sure warrant for this petition — 

Good and upright is the Lord ; therefore will he 
teach sinners in the way." ^ This warrant is especially 
confirmed in approaching him as our covenant God — 

Lead me in thy truth, and teach me, for thou art 
the God of my salvation. Teach me to do thy will, 
for thou art my God J' * Reader, do you desire the 
Lord's teaching ? Surrounded as you are with the 
means of instruction, what progTess are you making in 
the Lord's statutes ? Is your knowledge increasea 
since the last year ? Have you a deeper acquaintance 
with the character of God—with his holiness and love, 
with your own defilements, inconstancy, and v/eakness 
before him ? Do you often frequent that " new and 
living way," ^ by which at all times you may find a 
free accss to his throne ? that only way, by which 
the acknowledgment of praise can ever ascend with 
acceptance before him ? "By him (Christ) therefore 
let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually ; 
that is, the fruit of our lips, giving thanks unto his 
name." ^ 



J Eph. V. 1, 2. 2 John vi. 44, 45. ^ Psalm xx v. 8. 

4 Ibid. 5 ; cxliii. 10. ^ Heb. x. 20. ^ Ibid. xiii. 15. 



30 



EXPOSITION OF PSALM CXIX. 



13. With my lips have I declared all the judgments 
of my mouth. 

We may be assured that the Lord has taught us, 
and is engaged to teach us'' more of his ''statutes,'' 
when we are ready to impart the knowledge which we 
have received to one another. ' Teach me, that I may 
teach others.' This trading with our talents will bring 
a certain increase. '' To every one that hath shall be 
given, and he shall have abundance." i But—^^ our 
lips are our ow,"2_is the proud language of the 
world. Blessed be God; we are not our own."-^ 
Has not the Lord, who fashioned our lips, the best 
claim to our ser^dce ? And when he added to the 
claim of creation the right of purchase,^ ought not 
this double claim to be a security for the employment 
of all that we are and all that we have to his glory ? 
David's readiness to "declare the judgments of God's 
mouth " was evidently the overflowing of a heart filled 
with heavenly love. Is our Christian communion under 
the influence of this unction that cometh from above, 
and guided by a single desire to glorify our Saviour, 
to edify his people, and to quicken our own souls ? 
The guilt of sinful silence is indeed much to be depre- 
cated ; and those, who thus prove their unfaithfulness 
to God, may well tremble at the awful denunciations 
against them. And yet it is possible to be bold in 
speech for God, when in the closet, the family, or the 
world, our consciences justly convict us of insincerity. 
'' Thou that teachest another, teachest thou not thy- 
self? While therefore '' ivith our lips we declare 



» Matt. XXV. 29. - Psalm xii. 4. 3 I Cor. vi. 19. 

•* Verse 20= ^ -^^^^ 21. 



VERSE 13. 



31 



the judgments of God's mouth,'' let us seek to have 
our hearts " filled with the Spirit ; ' else we shall be 
found talking about religion, without life in ourselves, 
or any prospect of benefiting others; and such a " talk 
of the lips tendeth only to penury.'' - 

This subject illustrates the Character of the Lord's , 
people—'' The mouth of the righteous speaketh wis- 
dom, and his tongue talketh of judgment;""^ their 
Resolution—'' My moiith shall shew forth thy righte- 
ousness and thy salvation all the day, for I know not 
the numbers thereof ; " ^ their Prayer—" O Lord, open 
thou my lips, and my mouth shall shew forth thy 
praise;"^ their Blessing— " The lips of the righteous 
feed many. A wholesome tongue is a tree of life." ^ 
The example of the Saviour m^ay be placed before us 
for our imitation—" I have preached righteousness in 
the great congregation, lo ! I have not refrained my 
lips, O Lord, thou knowest."^ li\ the same spirit the 
Apostles were enabled to awe their persecutors into 
forbearance—" We cannot but speak the things which 
w^e have seen and heard."® 

How sinful is it to employ our lips for any but the 
Lord ! Yet how sadly reluctant are we to employ 
them for him ! Surely the day, when perhaps we 
have been fluent in worldly conversation, and yet have 
neglected our opportunities for speaking a word for 
him, must be considered a lost day ! Is there not 
much cause for watchfulness, prayer, and self-denial, 
lest by our silence we should be ashamed of him, 
whom by every obligation we are bound to confess ? 

1 Eph. V. 18, 19. " Prov. xiv. 23, with x. 19. 

3 Psalm xxxvii. 30. Ibid. Ixxi. 15. 

^ Ibid. li. 15. ■ Prov. x. 21 ; xv.4. 

Psalm xl. 9, 10, with Luke iv. 16—22. 

Acts iv. 20. 



32 EXPOSITION OF PSALM CXIX. 

If our inability to bear a testimony for our Lord is 
not painful to us, i we have the greatest reason to 
suspect, if not the sincerity, at least the strength of our 
attachment to his precious name ; and we can do no 
better than retire into our closets with the prayer 
of contrition-- Enter not into judgment with thy 
servant, O Lord." 2 



14. I have rejoiced in the tvaj/ of thy testimonies, as 
much as in all riches. 

If we desire to bear a testimony for God— in 
''declaring the judgments of his mouth;' we must 
realize their supreme joy far above earthly treasures, 
that " of the abundance of the heart our mouth may 
speak/' There is indeed a real joy in despising earthly 
joys. ' How sweet,' said Augustine, referring to the 
period of his conversion, ' was it in a moment to be 
free from those delightful vanities, to lose which had 
been my dread ; to part with which was now my joy ! ' s 
More satisfying is the believer's rejoicing in the way 
of God, than that of the miser in his untold treasures. 
Here he may safely say to his soul—- Soul, thou hast 
much goods laid up for many years ; Take thine ease." 
And these are the only riches within the reach of all. 

i Comp. Psalm xxxix. 1,2. Jer. xx. 9. 2 pg^jj^ ^^^jj^ 2. 
Quas amittere metus erat, jam dimittere gaudium fuit 
Aug. Confess. Book ix. Never man in his unregenerate state ' by 
his own confession, more strongly illustrated the truth of our 
Lord's declaration: Whosoever committeth sin is the servant 
of sm " (John viii. 34, with 2 Pet. ii. 19.) He describes himself 
actually as wallowing in the mire," with as much delight as 
if he were rolling himself in a bed of spices, or perfuming himself 
with the most precious ointment. Volutare in coeno, tanquam 
cmnamoms et unguentis pretiosis.') Yet when the word pierced 
his heart, and brought a new bias and taste into his soul how 
delightfully was his language changed in the recollection of his 
past " excess of not ! " * Quara suave est istis suavitatibus carere ' 



VERSE 14. 33 

If we are poor in this world, it is the Lord's providence. 
If we are poor in grace, it is our own fault. It is 
because we have despised our Lord's counsel to buy 
of him gold tried in the fire, that thou may est be 
rich.i " The believer's portion includes things pre- 
sent and things to come ; " - something enjoyed, and 
much more expected ; the mercies of eternity added to 
the blessings of time ; the riches of both worlds — all 
assured to him by the covenant of grace " in the way 
of the Lord^s testimonies J ^ And is it not then most 
strange, that with such treasure in possession and in 
prospect, the' child of God should be so unmindful of 
it, so careless in increasing his store, and in confirming 
his own interest in it ? But the riches of God's testi- 
monies have this peculiar property, that they cease to 
rejoice the heart, when they are not uppermost there. 
Alas ! do we not know something of this ? Have 
there not been times, when they have appeared little 
desirable in our eyes, and we have actually rejoiced 
in the accession of some worldly good, or the accom- 
plishment of some worldly desire, more than in this 
heavenly treasure ? 

And then, though the believer "rejoices in^^ the 
whole of God's " testiynonies,''^ and would not for all 
that this world can aiFord lose a verse or a letter of his 
Bible, yet there are some parts which he delights in as 
his peculiar treasure. A general interest in Scripture 
does not satisfy him. Texts, that have been directly 
applied to his conscience by the power of the Spirit, 
whether doctrinal, practical, or experimental, are espe- 
cially precious ; and he will be seeking to increase his 
little stock, until he has apprehended the full enjoy- 
ment of the whole ; if indeed the fulness of that which 

1 Rev. iii. 18. ^ 1 Cor. iii. 22. 

C 5 



34 EXPOSITION OF PSALM CXIX. 

is called ^^unsearchable/' i can ever be, in this life at 
least, completely enjoyed. But it was not so much 
in the Lord's testimonies, as " in the way of them;' 
that David rejoiced— the way in which they lead— 
the high way of holiness " 2_the way, which is so 
contrary to our natural desires and inclinations, the 
narrow way of the cross— so revolting to flesh and 
blood, that none but the true sheep of Christ can ever 
enter, or continue to walk in it. Yet we may and 
must rejoice in it, as the Lord's way, the way of his 
appointment, of which he hath spoken to his people— 
" Thus saith the Lord, Stand ye in the ways, and see, 
and ask for the old paths, where is the good way, and 
walk therein, and ye shall find rest for your souls." s 

4 

15. I icill meditate in thy precepts, and have respect 
unto thy ways. 

How much our rejoicing in the testimoiiies " of 
God would be increased, by a more habitual medita- 
tion upon them ! This is however a resolution, which 
the carnal mind can never be brought to make, and to 
which the renewed mind through remaining depravity 
is often sadly reluctant. But it is a blessed employ- 
ment, and will repay a thousand-fold the difficulty 
of engaging the too backward heart in the duty. 
Many sincere Christians allow themselves to be very 
remiss in meditation. They are content in reading 
the word and prayer, and indolently, with scarcely 
a struggle or a trial, yield themselves up to the 
persuasion, that meditation is either unnecessary or 
impracticable. But none have exercised their minds 
in this employment in the efforts of faith, without 



^ Ephes. iii. 8. 



- Isa. XXXV. 8. 



2 Jer. vi. 16, 



VERSE 15o 



35 



a certain prospect of an abundant harvest. Who has 
not found it to give strength and efficacy to obtain 
most important duties, by stirring up the gift ot 
God that is in us," ^ and keeping the energies of the 
heart in a wakeful posture of conflict and resistance ? 
If we are oppressed with the difficulty of the resolu- 
tion here expressed, let us turn it into a prayer : ' Lord 
help me to " meditate in thy precepts.^' ' Medita- 
tion indeed is the digestive faculty of the soul, which 
converts the word into real and proper nourishment, 
and seals the full enjoyment of its Divine blessing 
and support-—'' Thy words were found, and I did eat 
them, and thy word was unto me the joy and the 
rejoicing of my heart.'' " 

But in this duty of meditation vre are not only to 
include the stated times that we may be able to ap- 
propriate to the work, but the train of holy thoughts 
that passes through the mind during the busy hours of 
the day. By this means an habitual flow of spiritual 
desires will be maintained, and the flame of love be 
excited within, till at length we are enabled to make 
the Psalmist's resohition more determinately our own — 

I will -meditate in thy precepts ? " 

We can never want a subject for meditation, if 
indeed the salvation of Jesus has ever been made 
known to our souls. How many, while musing upon 
this glorious theme, have felt " the Are burn"^ within, 
under the gracious influence of their Lord's presence 
in the heart ! Let us therefore chide our dull and 

'2 Tim. i. 6. 

" Jer. XV. 16. To this text answers the definition of meditation 
given by Bishop Horne in this verse, as ' that exercise of mind, 
whereby it recalls a known truth, as some kinds of creatures do 
their food, to be ruminated upon, until the nutritious parts are 
extracted, and fitted for the purposes of life.' 

2 Psalm xxxix. 3, and compare Psalm xlv. 1. 



.36 



EXPOSITION OF PSALM CXIX. 



sluggish spirits, that suffer the precious manna to lie 
ungathered upon the ground, that are slow to entertain 
these heavenly thoughts, or rather that heavenly 
guest, whose peculiar office it is to help our in- 
firmities," ^ and especially to ^Uake of Chiist's and 
shew it unto us." ^ 

The exercise, however, of this, as of every other 
duty, may prove a matter of form, or a habit that 
imparts neither pleasure nor profit.^ Let each of us 
then ask— What distinct experimental benefit have I 
received from the word ? Do I endeavour to read it 
with prayerful meditation, until I find my heart filled 
with it ? And what is the practical influence of my 
communing with the word ? 

Habitual " respect to the ways " of God will 
naturally flow from " meditation in its precepts J' 
Thus the Psalmist elsewhere speaks of his own case — 

Thy loving kindness is before mine eyes, and I have 
walked in thy truth.'' 4 The experience of Job speaks 
to the same point—'' My foot hath held his steps, his 
way have I kept, and not declined. Neither have I 
gone back from the commandment of his lips ; / have 
esteemed the words of his mouth more than my neces- 
sary food."^ 

1 Rom. viii. 26. 2 JqJ^j^ ^^j^ 

^ ' If a chapter be read with the eye merely, while the mind 
remains inattentive, and the book be shut as soon as the chapter 
is finished, and thus, what has been read immediately escape the 
memory ; what is there to surprise, if, after the whole Bible has 
been several times read through, we discover in ourselves no 
increase of piety and devotion ? ' Professor Frank. 

^ Psalm xxvi. 3. 5 Job xxiii. 11^ 12, 



VERSE 16 



37 



16. I will delight myself^ in thy statutes ; I will not 
forget thy word, 

" Meditation and habitual respect to the Lord's 
statutes " will never fail to issue in delight ^' — and 
in such a delight, that however small the believer's 
attainments may be, he would rather live and die in 
the enjoyment of this privilege, than in the pursuit, 
and even in the position, of the most satisfying 
pleasures of a vain and empty world. But if it be 
a real delight in the Lord's statutes/' it will be 
universal — when they probe the secret lurking-places 
within, and draw out to the full light the hidden 
indulgences of a heart that is yet carnal — when they 
call for the entire crucifixion of every corrupt incli- 
nation, and the unreserved surrender of all to the 
self-denying service of our God. TVe may mark 
this spirit as distinguished from the delight of the 
hypocrite, which is rather to know '' than to do the 
" ways of his God,'' ^ and therefore which is satisfied 
with outward conformity, w ith little or no , desire to 
understand the '^eiTors" of his heart, that he might 
be ^' cleansed from secret faults." ^ We may there- 
fore try the sincerity of our obedience, by tracing the 
spring of it ; and the reality of our love, by its fruit- 
fulness and active cheerfulness in our appointed sphere 
of duty. We may also observe here an evidence 
of adoption. The servant may perform the statutes 
of God, but it is only the son who " delights in 
them." But how — we may ask — are we led to the 

^ ' I will solace and recreate myself.' — Ainsworth. — A beautiful 
illustration of the refinement of tlie word, when the mind is tired 
, out with the toilsome incumbering cares of the world. 

2 Isaiah Iviii. 2. 3 Psalm xix. 12. 



^« EXPOSITION OF PSALM CXIX. 

believer's delight? What is the spring of adoption ? 
It is ^'the Spirit of the Son sent into our hearts, 
whereby we cry-^ Abba, Father/ i It is because we 
are at peace with God through Jesus Christ ; because 
the Scriptures are the message of reconciliation through 
him, that they become delightful to those who are par- 
takers of this great salvation. This Spirit of adoption, 
therefore, as the principle of delight, is the spring of 
acceptable obedience in the Lord's service. 

And surely those who are serving him in this happy 
filial walk are not likely to "forget his word/' As 
the eye is continually turned to the object of its 
etifection, so the eye of the soul, that has been fixed 
with delight in the ways of God, will be habitually 
resting upon them. As one of the wise heathens ob- 
served—' I neVer yet heard of a coveteous old man, 
who had forgotten where he had buried his treasure.' 2 
The reason is abundantly evident. His heart is in it. 
And thus, if our hearts have tasted that the Lord is 
gracious," if we have found a treasure in the way of his 
testimonies, we cannot forget the swe'etness of the 
experience, or where to go to refresh ourselves with the 
repetition of it. 

Forgetfulness of the word is however to the Christian, 
a source of continual complaint, and sometimes also 
of most distressing temptation, Not that there is 
always a real charge of guilt upon the conscience. 
For, as Boston somewhat quaintly observes — ' Grace 
makes a good heart-memory, even where there is no 
good head-memory.' But means must be used, and 
helps may be suggested. Watchfulness against the 
influence of the world is of the first importance. How 

^ Gal. iv. 6. 

' Nec vero quemquam senum audivi oblitum, quo loco 
thesaurum obruisset.*— Cicero de Senectute. 



VERSE 16. 



39 



much of the good seed is choked by the springing 
thorns ! ^ If our hearts are ever refreshed with spiritual 
delight, we should be as cautious of an uncalled-for 
advance into the world, as of exposing an invalid's 
susceptible frame to a damp or unhealthy atmosphere. 
Whatever warmth had been kindled in spiritual duties, 
may be chilled by one moment's unwary rush into an 
unkindly clime. We must also recommend increasing 
attention to the w^ord, as the means of its presentation ^ 
— the exercise of " faith," without which it will not 
profit " 3 — the active habit of love, bringing with it a 
more habitual interest in the statutes ^ — all accompanied 
with unceasing prayer for the gift of the Holy Spirit, 
made the express subject of promise for this purpose.^ 
tinder this heavenly teaching and recollections, what 
delight will be found in the statutes ! what blessed 
remembrance of his word ! O Lord God, keep this 
for ever in the imaginations of the thoughts of the 
hearts of thy people, and prepare their hearts unto 
thee." 6 

' Matt. xiii. 22. ^ Heb. ii. 1. ^ Ibid. iv. 2. 

Verse 15. ^ John xiv. 26. ^ 1 Chron. xxix. 18. 



40 



EXPOSITION OF PSALM CXIX. 



PART III. 

]?. Deal hoiintifulhj ivith thy servant, that I may live, 
and keep thy icord. 

This prayer appears to have been much upon David's 
heart, and in the substance and object of it is again 
repeated. 1 Xor does he fail to acknowledge ^he 
answer to it.2 ^^^e may remark from it, that those 
who have been taught to prize the thi'one of aTace, 
have learned not to ask a little of God. Comino- in 
the name of Jesus, they feel their ground to be sure. 
They plead the warrant of his own command and 
promise— Open thy mouth wide, and I will fill it; ^ 
and ^'crying, Abba, Father," ^ they dare to expect 

all that a wise and indulgent Father is able to give 

Deal bountifully with thy servant." And indeed, 
remembering what a poor, weak, empty, and helpless 
creature even the most experienced believer is in 
himself, it is not to be conceived that any thing short 
of a bountiful supply can answer the emergency. We 
may be too bold in our manner of approach to God ; ^ 
but we cannot be too bold in our expectations from 
him. He that spared not his own Son, but delivered 
him up for us all, how shall he not with him also 
freely give us all things?''^ What other pledge— 
what more encouragement— can we need to draw niah 

^ Verse 77. 2 Yqvsq 65. Comp. Psalm xiii. 6 ; cxvi. 7, 8. 

Ibid. Ixxxi. 10. 4 Koni. viii. 15. Gal.iv. 6. 

^ A beautiful example of reverential approach, and of the ac- 
ceptance manifested, is given in x-\brara's historv (Gen. xvii. 3,^ 
and is in some degree illustrated by the private records of Luther. 
—Note on verses 147, 148. 6 -^^^^^ ^-j^i 39 • 



VERSE 17. -^1 

with the largest deske and the most heavenly 
expectations? The act of prayer will increase the 
power to pray ; and the throne of gTace will be found 
to be our highest privilege, and the mean of our daily 
support and richest consolation. Instead, therefore, 
of saying — " We have nothing to draw with, and the 
well is deep,'^i let us try what faith can do — and 
^' with joy shall we draw water out of the wells of 
salvation/' 2 L^t us bring our empty vessels until 
one is not left. ^ Yes — believer — there is indeed a 
bountiful supply of grace — of every kind — suited to 
every want — grace to pardon — grace to quicken — grace 
to bless. Oh ! see, then, that you come not empty 
away. Remember who it is that pleads before the 
throne. Remember that the grace you need is at 
hand. From eternity he foreknew your case. He 
laid your portion by. He has kept it for the time 
of need, and now he only waits for an empty vessel 
into which to pour his supply. He is ready to show 
you, how infinitely his grace exceeds all thoughts — 
all prayers — all desires — all praises. And have you 
not returned from the throne of grace, with a fresh 
spring of devotedness in this service, with every 
selfish thought forgotten in the desire, that you may 
live, and keep his icordV^ Xothing touched you, 
until you felt the love of God shed abroad in your 
heart." Xothino; ever will touch or move the re- 
luctant heart, but an apprehension of bountiful re- 
deemino; love, but this will never fail to influence. 
This it is that makes obedience easy — delightful — 
natural — in a manner unavoidable. It constrains"^ 
to it. The soul now^ Vwes, and keeps the word,^^ 
It now lives supremely to him that died for us, and 

1 Johniv. 11. - Isa.xii. 3. ^ Comp, 2 Kings iv. 3, 6. 
^ Rom. V. 5. ^2 Cor. v. 14. 



EXPOSITION OF PSALM CXIX. 

rose again." t The Christian's motto and character 
now is-.'^ To me to live is Christ/' ^ ^^j. ivAeed 
does the highest archangel, he that is nearest to the 
eternal throne, know a higher object of existence than 
this. And how encouraging the reflection, that in 
this glorious object, the meanest servant in the house- 
hold of God is an equal participant with the most 
blessed inhabitant of heaven ! 



18. OpeTi thou mine eyes, that I may behold wondrous 
things out of thy law. 

In order to " keejj God's word,'' the Psalmist here 
prays, that he might understand it ; and though under 
the teaching of the Spirit he had acquired more 
understanding than all his teachers," 3 yet we find him 
ever coming to his God under a deep sense of his 
blindness and ignorance. And this is indeed the in- 
variable effect of Divine teaching, so that those, who 
have been best taught and longest taught, will be the 
most ready to " sit at the feet of Jesus," 4 as if they 
knew nothing, and had every thmg to learn. It is 
indeed an unspeakable mercy to know a little of the 
Lord, and at the same time to feel that it is only 
a little that we do know. In this spirit we shall be 
longing to know more, and yet anxious to know 
nothing except as we are taught of God. There are 
indeed ivondrous things" to be known in God's 
law, things so wondrous, that the angels desire to 
look into them." 5 The exhibition of the scheme 
of redemption is in itself a world of wonders. The 
display of justice exercised in the way of mercy, and 
of mercy glorified in the exercise of justice, is a 

J 2 Cor. V. 15. 2 i. 21. s Verses 99, 100. 

^ Luke X. 39. ^ 1 Peter i. 12. 



VERSE 18. 



43 



wonder that must fill the intelligent universe of God 
with everlasting astonishment. And yet these won- 
drous things " are hid from multitudes, who are most 
deeply interested in the knowledge of them. They 
are *Miid" not only from the careless and unconcern- 
ed, but from the wise and prudent, and revealed 
only ''to babes — to those who are experimentally 
acquainted with that important truth, that a man 
can receive nothing except it be given him from 
heaven.^' 2 The largest and clearest print can never 
assist our sight, as long as a covering remains before 
our eyes. So neither can the Holy Scriptures enlighten 
the mind;, until the veil is taken away" from the 
heart. Oh ! how needful then is the prayer — UnveiP 
— '' Open thou mine eyes:^^ Let the veil be taken 
away from the law that I may understand it ; and 
from my heart that I may receive it. It is a most 
affecting consideration, that even Christians often find 
the word of God to be to them as a sealed book. 
They go through their accustomed portion without 
gaining any increasing acquaintance with the light, 
life and power of it, and without any distinct 
application of any part of its contents to their own 
experience. And thus it must be, whenever reading 
has been unaccompanied with prayer for Divine 
influence and teaching. We not only need to have 
our " eyes opened to behold fresh wonders, but 
also to maintain our perception of those wonders, 
which we have already beheld, that we may continue 
to behold them in a new and more spiritual light. 
But are we conscious of our blindness ? Then let 
us hear the counsel of our Lord, that we " anoint 

1 Matt. xi. 25.' - - John iii. 27. 

" ' Revela oculos meos. Velamen detraha oculis meis.' Poli 
Synopsis. — Margin, Reveal. Compare 2 Cor. iii. 14 — 16. 



44 EXPOSITION OF PSALM CXIX, 

our eyes with eye-salve, that we may see.'" The 
recollection of the promises of divine teaching are 
fraught with encouragement. The Spirit is freely 
and abundantly promised in this very character, as 
" the Spirit of wisdom and revelation in the know- 
ledge of God.^^2 If therefore we desire a clearer 
insight into these "wondrous things'' of revelation 
— ^^if we would behold the glorious beauty of our 
Immanuel— if we would comprehend something more 
of tlie immeasureable extent of that love, with which 
" God so loved the world, as to give his only-begotten 
Son "3 — and of that equally incomprehensible love, 
which moved that Son so cheerfully to undertake 
our cause, ^ we must make daily, hourly use of this 
important petition—'^ Open thou mine eyesJ' 

19. I am a stranger in the earth: hide not thy 
commandments from me. 

This confession from a solitary wanderer would 
have had little comparative meaning ; but in the 
mouth of one who was probably sunounded with 
every source of worldly enjoyment, it shows at once 
the vanity of " earth's best joys," and the heavenly 
tendency of the religion of the Bible. This appears 
indeed to have been ever the character, confession, 
and glory, of the Lord's people. They " would not 
live always," 6 and they gladly hear the warning voice, 
that minds them to " arise and depart, for this is not 
their rest." 7 And was not this especially the character 
not of David only, but of David's Lord ? Born at 

» Rev. iii. 18. 2 ^ph. i. 17. 

3 John iii. ^Heb.x. 5— 7. 

^ Abraham, Gen. xxiii. 4. Jacob, Gen. xlvii. 9. David, Psalm 
xxxix. 12. All, Heb. xi. 13. 6 26. 

7 Micah ii, 10. 



VERSE 19. 



45 



an inn ^ — not '^having were to lay his head"^ — 
suffering hunger 3— subsisting upon alms^ — neglected 
by his own 5 — looking for some to take pity, but 
t^e "was none, and for comforters, but he found 
none"^— migE he not justly take up the confession 
I am a stranger in the earth " 
If we consider this verse as descriptive of the cofl^ 
dition of the child of God, it exhibits him in many 
most interesting points of view : distant from his 
proper home' — without a fixed residence^ — with no 
particular interest in the worlds— and submitting to 
all the inconveniences of a stranger on his journey 
homewards. — Such is the stranger's state ! And what 
does he want ? a guide, a guard, a companion to 
direct, secure, and cheer his way. Now, all this he 
finds in the word of God — " When thou goest, it shall 
lead thee ; when thou sleepest, it shall keep thee ; and 
when thou awakest, it shall talk with thee.^^ Most 
suitable then is his prayer — Hide not thy command- 
ments from For thus, indeed, acquaintance 
with the word of God makes up all his hopes, and 
soothes all his sorrows. It supplies all the room 
of friends and counsellors. It furnishes light, joy, 
strength, food, armour, and whatever else the pilgrim 
may need on his way homewards. Let us put this 
subject closely to ourselves. As rational creatures, we 
know that " our life is even a vapour, which appeareth 
for a little time, and then vanisheth away." As 
believers, we know that we cannot, and we would 
not, call this world our home, and we are assured, that 
it is far better to be without it, than to have our 



^ Luke ii. 7. 
4 Luke Yiii. 3. 
7 Heb. xi. 9. 
10 Actsxiv. 22. 



2 Matt. viii. 20. 
^ John i. 11. 
^ 1 Chron. xxix. 15. 
11 Prov.vi. 20—22. 



3 Ibid. xxi. 18. 
^ Psalm Ixix. 20 
9 PhiL iii. 20. 
James iv. 14. 



4b EXPOSITION OF PSALM CXIX. 

portion in it. But do we never feel at home in the 
midst of our earthly comforts, and thus forget our 
proper character, and our eternal prospects ? Do 
we always live, speak, and act as " strangers in the 
earth ? " Does our conversation in the society of the 
world savour of the home whither we profess to be 
going ? To feel ourselves " strangers in the earth,'' 
and in the midst of the enjoyments of the gifts of 
God, to sit loose to them, as if our treasure were in 
heaven, is a sure mark of a right spirit. If the world, 
however, should be gaining ascendency in our affec- 
tions, let us only turn our eyes to " the cross " 
of Calvary. Let that be the object of our daily 
contemplation — the gi'ound of our constant " glorying," 
and the \forid will then be to us as a " crucified" 
object. ' And lastly, let us not forget that we are 
looking forward, and making progress towards a world, 
where none are strangers— where all are children of one 
family, in one eternal home. " In my Father's house" 
—said our gracious Head— are many mansions; I 
go to prepare a place for you."- 

20. My soul breaketh for the longing that it hath unto 
thy judgments at all times. 

Who would not wish to adopt this language of 
intense desire and affection for the ways of God ? It 
is such fervour as marks the Christian's ardent longings 
for communion with his Saviom* — I charge you, 
O daughters of Jeiusalem, if you find my beloved, 
that ye tell him that I am sick of love. Set me as 
a seal upon thine heart, as a seal upon thine arm ; 
for love is strong as death, jealousy is cruel as the 



' Gal. vi. 14. 



2 John xiv. 2. 



VERSE 20. 



47 



gi'ave ; the coais thereof are coals of fire, which hath a 
most vehement flame. Many waters cannot quench 
love, neither can the floods dro^\ii it." ^ Not only 
does this verse express the same desire, but the same 
enjoyment. For where is this communion of the 
church with her Lord to be found, but in the way 
of his ''judgments?" '' Tiiou meetest him that 
rejoiceth and worketh righteousness, those that remem- 
ber thee in thy ways.'^ ^ In contrasting this with the 
church of Laodicea, under a brighter dispensation, 

neither cold nor hot ; " •'^ — which state, we may ask 
— most nearly resembles our own ? — We may remark 
also not only the fervour, but the steady uniformity 
of this religion. It was not a rapture, but a habit; 
constant and uniform; ''at all times^ With us, 
such enjoyments are too often favoured seasons, happy 
moments ; alas ! only moments — why not days, and 
months, and years ? The object of our desires is a 
continual spring that can never be exhausted. The 
aflPection — the longing of the soul, can never over- 
reach its object. If therefore the desire is cherished, 
it will become the established habit — the element, in 
which the child of God lives and thrives. 

What then is the cause with us of the low ebbing 
of spiritual desire ? Perhaps the throne of grace is 
not frequently visited. Or at least prayer for the 
influence of the Spirit is neglected. Or we have been 
unwatchful against a light, vain, and worldly spirit, 
than which nothing more tends to wither the growth 
of spiritual things. Or probably the workings of un- 
belief have been too faintly resisted. And this is 
of itself suiHcient to account for much of our dulness, 
since the rule of procedure in the kingdom of grace 

^ Can. V. 8 ; viii. 6, 7. " Isaiah Ixiv. 5. 

^ Rev. iii. 15. 



48 EXPOSITION OF PSALM CXIX. 

is — " According to your faith be it unto you." ^ Grace 
is indeed an insatiable principle. Enjoyment, instead 
of surfeiting, only serves to sharpen the appetite. Yet 
if we are content to live at a low rate, there will be 
no progress in fruitfulness or in comfort. We know, 
desire, and are satisfied with little, and therefore we 
enjoy but little. We live as borderers on the land, 
instead of being able to say — " Surely it floweth with 
milk and honey; and this is the fruit of it,'^ This is 
not the thriving, the cheerfulness, the adorning of the 
gospel. It is rather the obscuring of the glory of our 
Christian profession, and of the happiness of its 
attendant privileges. 

Perhaps, however, the fervour of desire expressed in 
this verse is conceived by some to be out of reach; 
or by others it may be expected by some sudden 
manifestation or excitement. Rather let us look for it 
in a patient, humble, and persevering waiting upon 
the Lord. We may have still to complain of cold- 
ness, weakness, and wanderings of spiritual alFections. 
Yet strength to wait will be imperceptibly given ; 
faith will be sustained for the conflict ; and thus our 
souls will make their boast in the Lord,'^ even 
though we should never be favoured with an excited 
flow of enjoyment. 

At all events let us beware of resting^ satisfied with 
the confession of our lukewarmness to our fellow - 
creatures, without ^' pouring out our heart before the 
Lord." There is a fulness of grace in our glorious 
Head to strengthen the things that remain, that are 
ready to die," as well as at the beginning to " quicken " 
us when dead in trespasses and sins." Abundant, 
also, are the promises and encouragements to poor, 



^ Matt. ix. 29. 



VERSE 21. 49 

dry, barren souls. I will heal their backslidings — 
I will be as the dew unto Israel — he shall grow as the 
lily, and cast forth his roots as Lebanon. His branches 
shall spread, and his beauty shall be as the olive-tree, 
and his smell as Lebanon." ^ For what purposes are 
promises such as these given, but that we may fill 
our mouth with arguments," when in the contrition 
of faith we again venture from a backsliding state to 
order our cause before God ? " And will he 
plead against us with his great power ? No — but 
he will put his strength in us " ^ and we shall yet 
again run the way of his commandments " ^ ^ith an 
enlarged heart. 

21. Thou hast rebuked the proud that are cursed^ which 
do err from thy commandments » 

Let the histories of Cain,-* Pharaoh,^ Haman,^ 
Nebuchadnezzar,^ and Herod,^ exhibit the proud 
under the rebuke and curse of God. He abhors their 
persons 9 and their offerings : he knows them afar 
off : " 11 he resisteth them : " ^2 scattereth them in 
the imaginations of their hearts." ^3 Yet more espe- 
cially hateful are they in his sight, when cloaking 
themselves under a spiritual garb—'' which say, Stand 
by thyself, come not near to me : for I am holier than 
thou. These are a smoke in my nose, a fire that burneth 
all the day." David and Hezekiah are instruc- 
tive beacons in the church, that God's people, when- 

^ Hosea xiv. 4—6. - Job xxiii. 4— 6. ^ Verse 32. 

^ Gen. iv. 5, 13—16. ^ Exod. xiv. 15—31. ^ Est. vii. 7—10. 

' Dan. iv. 29—33. § ^^ts xii. 21—23. ^ Prov. vi. 16, 17. 

Lukexviii. 11, 12, 14. 11 Psalm cxxxviii. 6. 

'2 1 Peter v. 5. with Proy. iii. 34. ^3 L^ke i. 51. 

Isa. Ixv. 5. ^5 2Sam.xxi. 1— 15, 

2 Kings XX. 12, 18. 1 Chron. xxxii. 31. 

D 



50 EXPOSITION OF PSALM CXIX. 

ever they give place to the workings of a proud heart, 
must not hope to escape his rebuke. Thou wast a 
God that forgavest them, though thou tookest ven- 
geance on their inventions." ' Something of pride 
probably influences all that "do err from the Lord's 
commandments ; " yet doubtless " the Righteous Judge " 
will mark an infinite dilFerence between those errors, 
which arise from remaining imperfection of the renewed 
nature, and those which have their source in the obsti- 
nacy of the unrenewed heart. Those who are ever 
ready to confess collectively — " Who can understand 
his errors ? 2__and individually—'' I have gone astray 
like a lost sheep " ^ — are widely diff'erent in character 
from the subjects of this rebuke and curse of God — 

Thou hast trodden down all them that err from thy 
statutes ; for their deceit is falsehood.'' 

In meditating on this verse, let us observe the ex- 
pression of the mind of God concerning pride. There 
is no sin more abhorrent to his character. It is 
as if we were taking the crown from his head, and 
placing it upon our own. It is man making a god 
of himself — acting from himself — and for himself. 
Nor is this principle less destructive to our own hap- 
piness. And yet it is not only rooted, but it often 
rears its head and blossoms, and bears fruit in the 
hearts even of those who can truly say, they " hate 
and abhor its infl:uence. It is most like its father, the 
Devil, in serpentine deceitfulness. It is always active 
— always ready imperceptibly to mix itself up with 
every thing. When it is mortified in one shape, it 
rises in another. When we have thought that it was 
gone, in some unexpected moment we find it here still. 
It can convert every thing into nourishment, even 

1 Psalm xcix. 8. 2 j^id. xix. 12. 

3 Verse 176. 4 Xq^^q us. 



VERSE 21. 51 

God's choicest gifts— yea, the graces of his Spirit. 
Let no saint therefore — however near he may be living 
to God, however favoured with the shininas of his 
countenance — consider himself beyond the reach of this 
temptation. Paul was most in danger when he seemed 
to be most out of it; and nothing but an instant 
miracle of grace and power saved him from the 
snare of the devil.'' ' Indeed the whole plan of salva- 
tion is intended to humble the pride of man, by 
exhibiting his restoration to the Divine favour as a 
free gift through the atoning blood of the cross. And 
there is no more offensive display of pride in the eye 
of God, than that resistance to this humbling doctrine 
of the cross, and the humbling requisitions of the life 
of faith flowing from it, which makes the " sure foun- 
dation " of the believer's hope " a stone of stumblmg" 
to the unbeliever's ruin. 2 As regards also the means of 
salvation— when can pride dare to lift up its head in 
the view of the Son of God taking upon him the form 
of a servant— that he might bear the curse of man ? ^ 
" Behold, the soul that is lifted up, is not upright in 
him." 4 ^ ^ 

But can a sinner— can a saint— be proud ?— one that 
owes every thing to free and sovereign gTace— one that 
has wasted so much time— abused so much mercy— so 
grieved the Spirit of God— that has a heart so full of 
atheism— unbelief— selfishness ? Nay, the very pride 
itself should be the matter of the deepest daily humil- 
iation; that the remembrance of it may, under the 
gracious influences of the Spirit, prove an effectual 
means of subduing it in our hearts : thus we shall over- 
come conuption by its own workings, and meet our 
adversary with his own weapons. And if we should be 

^ See 2 Cor. xii. 7. 2 ^^^^ 30 33^ ^ p^^ 7 

2 Phil. ii. 5, 8. 4 Hab. ii. 4. 

D 2 



52 



EXPOSITIOX OF PSALM CXIX. 



unable entirely to restrain the influence of this cursed 
principle, yet the very sight of its corruption, if it 
deepen the work of contrition, will be overruled for our 
spiritual advancement. 

O blessed end intended by the Lord's dealings with 
us! to ''humble and to prove us" — ''to know," and 
to make us know ' ' what was in our hearts, that he 
might do us good at the latter end ! " ^ Let us not 
frustrate his gxacious intentions, or build again the 
things which he would have destroyed. May we love 
to lie low — lower than ever — infinitely low before him ! 
Lord ! teach us to remember, that " that which is 
highly esteemed among men, is abomination in thy 
sight."- Teach us to acknowledge even thy sharp 
and painful discipline, that tends to subjugate this 
hateful pride of our hearts before our Saviour's cross ! 

22, Remove from me reproach and contempt ; for I 
have kept thy testimonies. 

The proud under the rebuke of God are usually 
distinguished by their enmity to his people. It is 
tlieh delight to pour upon them " reproach and con- 
tempt,'^' wdth no other provocation given, than that their 
obedience to the testimonies of God condemns their own 
neglect. 3 If therefore we are resolved to turn our 
backs upon the world, and to choose a decided con- 
trary course, we must take this " reproach and 
contempt as our portion. Yet it is such a portion as 
Moses valued above all the treasures of the world ; ^ it 
is that reproach which our Master himself " despised," 
as reckoning it not worthy to be compared with " the 
joy that was set before him."^ For did he bear his 

Deut. vii'. 2, 16. - Luke xvi. L5. ^ Heb. xi. 7, 

■i Ibid. 24—26. ^ Ibid. xii. 2. 



VERSE 22. 



53 



cross only on the way to Calvary ? It was laid for 
every step in his path : it met him in every form 
of suffering, of " reproach and contempt When, 
therefore, we consider him as taking up his daily cross 
in the breathing of the atmosphere of a world of sin, 
and in the endurance of the contradiction of sinners 
against himself ; ^ when we mark him consummating 
his course of reproach and contempt," by suffering 
without the gate," — can we hesitate to go forth unto 
him without the camp, bearing his reproach ? " ^ Xhe 
tiial however in many cases, especially if cast upon 
us by those whom we have loved and valued, proves 
most severe ; and that we may not faint under it, let 
us follow David's example, and spread our case before 
the Lord — '' Remove froyn me reproach and contempt/'' 
Perhaps contempt is more hard to bear than reproach 
—we are thought of, even by our enemies, so much 
better than we deserve, that it strikes with peculiar 
poignancy. Yet when the prayer of deprecation is 
sent up in submission to our Father's will, doubtless 
some answer, and that the right answer, will be given ; 
and whether the reproach be removed, or grace " 
vouchsafed sufficient " to endure it,^ the issue will 
prove alike for the glory of God, and the prosperity 
of our own souls. 

But let us beware of that ''way of escape," which 
the insincere are ever ready to pursue in returning to 
the world. They dare not act to the full conviction 
of their consciences ; they dare not confront their 
friends to avow the determination of forming their con- 
duct by the principles of the word of God. This is 
hard — this is impossible, for those who know not 
** the victory that overcometh the world," ^ and who 

1 Heb.xii.3. - Ibid. xiii. 12, 13. 

3 2 Cor. xii. 8, 9. ^ See 1 John v. 4, 5. 

D 3 



04 EXPOSITION OF PSALM GXIX. 

therefore cannot bear this mark upon their foreheads 

These are they which follow the Lamb whithersoever 
he goeth." i Far better, however, will be the heaviest 
oppression, nnder reproach and contempt,'' than any 
such endeavour to remove it from ourselves. The desire 
to escape the cross convicts the heart of unfaithfulness, 
and will not fail to make way for tenfold diiEculties in 
our path. Every compliance with the world against 
the voice of the word of God is a step into the by-path, 
which deviates wider and wider from the straioht and 
naiTow way, bring-s discredit upon our profession, proves 
a stumbling-block in the way of the weak, and ^vill 
cause us, if not actually to come short, at least to 
''seem to come short of the promised rest." 2 

But do we really find the weight of the cross 
above that we are able ? " He that bore it for us 
will surely enable us to bear it for him ; and upheld 
by him, we caimot sink. It is a sweet exchange, by 
which the burden of sin is removed, and bound to his 
cross ; and what remains to us is the lighter cross 
of reproach and contempt the badge of our 
discipleship.3 If then we have the testimony of oiu* 
consciences that in the midst of persecution from the 
world, we "have kept his testimonies,'''^ we have 
indeed a sure warrant of hope that the ovemhelming 
weight will be removed from us ; and we shall be 
able to testify to our Master's praise in the churches 
of God, that ''his yoke is easy, and his burden is 
light." 5 

1 Rev. xiv. 4. 2 Heb. iv. 1. 

" Matt. xvi. 24. Verses 61, 69, 87, 95, 110. 

^ Matt. xi. 30. 



VERSE 23. 



55 



23. Princes also did sit and speak against me ; but thy 
servant did meditate in thy statutes. 

David might well give his testimony to the words 
of the Lord, that they were tried words ; ^ for 
perhaps no one had ever tried them more than himself, 
and certainly no one had more experience of their 
faithfulness, sweetness, and support. Saul and his 
" princes might indeed sit and speak against him,^' 
but he had a resomxe of which they could never 
deprive him. " Not as the world giveth, give I unto 
you." 2 As our blessed Master was employed in 
communion with his Father, and delighting in his 
work at the time when the ''princes did sit and speak 
against him/^ ^ so under similar circumstances of trial, 
in the history of this faithful servant of God, the habit 
of meditation in the Lord's statutes extracted spiritual 
food for his support : and in this strength of his God 
he was enabled to '' suffer according to his will, and 
to commit the keeping of his soul to him in well- 
doing, as unto a faithful Creator.'' ^ Not that this 
form of trial was peculiar to the history of David. 
The children of Israel in Egypt,^ Daniel in Babylon, ^ 
and the disciples of Christ in the early ages of the 
church,^ have severally found '' the same afflictions to 
be accomplished in themselves." Xever, indeed, has 
Christ's '' kingdom been of this world." ^ Therefore 
the world knoweth us not, because it knew him not." 9 
And perhaps this is one of the wise and gTacious 
reasons of our trials, to make the word of God more 

^ Psalm xii. 6. Prayer-book Translation. ^ John xiv. 27. 

3 Ibid. xi. 47, 54—57. ^ 1 Peter iv. 19. 

^ Exod. i. 10. ^ Dan. vi. 4 — 6. 

^ Matt. X. 17, 18. Acts iv. 27—29. ^ John xviii. 36. 

9 1 John iii. 1. 



Ob EXPOSITION OF PSALM CXIX. 

precious by the experience of its sustaining consola- 
tions, in an hour when the arm of human power may 
be opposed to us. Often indeed, from a want of a 
present application of the word. Christians, and 
especially young Christians, are in danger of being 
put to rebuke by the scorner's sneer. We cannot 
therefore estimate too highly the importance of an 
accmate and well-digested acquaintance with this 
precious book. In the appalling conflicts of the 
Christian warfare, it is " the sword of the Spirit,'' i 
which, if it be kept bright by constant use, will never 
be wielded without the victory of faith. So maiw 
reasons may be dra^ii from thence against fainting 
under persecution, that the believer may ever be ready 
to thank God, and to take courage.'' 2 Christ has 
left it indeed as the portion of his people—^^ In the 
world ye shall have tribulation," counterbalanced 
however most abundantly by the portion which they 
enjoy in him— In me ye shall have peace," ^ If 
therefore the one half of this portion may seem hard, 
the legacy entire is such as no servant of Christ 
can refuse to accept, or indeed will receive without 
thankfulness. 

24. Thy testimonies are also my delight, and my 

counsellors. 

What could we want more in a time of difBculty 
than comfort and direction r David had both these 
blessings. As the fruit of his meditation in the 
Lord's statutes, " in his distress they were his 
" delight ; " in his seasons of perplexity they were his 

1 Ephes. vi. 17. 2 ^i^^ts xxviii. 15. 

John XVI. 33. See the beautiful illustration of this whole 
declaration — Acts xvi. 22 — 25. 



VERSE 24. 



57 



" counsellors,'' directing his behaviour in the perfect 
way ; " 1 so that though '^princes sat and spake 
against him,'' they ''could find none occasion nor 
fault, forasmuch as he was faithful, neither was there 
any error or fault found in him.'' - The testimonies 
of God were truly "the men of his counsel."^ He 
directed his own conduct by the rules laid before him 
in the book of God, as if he was having recourse to 
the most experienced counsellors, or rather as if the 
prophets of his God were giving the word from his 
mouth.'^ Thus the child of God has his counsel, as 
well as the Sovereign. On one side we see here Saul 
and his counsellors 5— on the other side, David and the 
testimonies of his God. Which, think we, v/as better 
furnished with that wisdom which is profitable to 
direct ? Subsequently, as a king, David was constrained 
to make " the testimonies of God his counsellors ; " ^ 
and probably to his constant regard to their voice, he 
owed much of his earthly prosperity.7 

?fow do we improve the privilege of being coun- 
selled in all our difficulties by the word of God ? If 
so— the recollection of our privilege must increase our 
''delight'' in it. Those who take up the word of 
God without interest, will find no light in it ; while 
those who make it their " delight," will never fail 
to 'find it their " Counsellors." But if we wish for 
the enjoyment of its holy delight and spiritual counsel 
in times of perplexity, we shall find a mere cursory 
reading of it of little avail. It must be brought home 
to our own experience, and consulted on those trivial 

1 1 Sam. xviii. 14. Psalm ci. 2. " Dan.vi.4, 5. ^ Margin. 

^ Comp. 2 Sara. vii. 4, 5, also xvi. 23. . ^ Verse 23. 

6 Deut. xvii. 18—20. 

7 2 Sam. viii. 6, 14. Compare also his dying and most en- 
couraging advice to Solomon on this subject, founded doubtless 
upon the recollection of his own experience, 1 Kings ii. 3. 

D 5 



0« EXPOSITION OF PSALM CXIX. 

occasions of every day's occurrence, when unconscious 
of our need of divine direction, we are too often inclined 
to lean to our own counsel. It is this habitual use and 
daily familiarity with it, as the voice and word of God, 
that will ever reflect its heavenly light upon the many 
dark turns of our path- way to heaven. It will be to 
us as a pillar and a cloud ; " i as the " Frim and 
Thummim ; '' 2 an infallible guide and counsellor. 

Sometimes however perplexity arises from the con- 
flict, not between conscience and sinful indulgence, (in 
which case Christian sincerity would at all times 
determine the path,) but between duty and duty. 
When however the secret claims of acknowledged 
obligations seem to interfere with each other, the 
counsel of the word will mark their relative importance, 
connexion, and dependence : their suitableness to pre- 
sent circumstances in providence; their probable in- 
fluence upon the present frame and acting principles of 
the heart ; the guidance which has been vouchsafed to 
the Lord's people in similar emergencies ; and the light 
which the daily routine of the life of our Great Exem- 
plar exhibits before us. The great concern however 
is to cultivate the habit of mind which falls in most 
naturally with the counsel of the word — " Walking 
in the fear of the Lord," ^ a simple spirit of depen- 
dence, ^ and torn away from the idolatry of taking 
counsel from our own hearts, we cannot materially 
err ; because there is here a suitableness between the 
disposition and the promise — a watchfulness against 
the impetuous bias of the flesh ; a paramount regard 
to the glory of God, and a meek submission to his 
gracious appointment. If the counsel however should 
not prove infallible, the fault is not in the word, but 

1 Numb. ix. 15—23. 2 jbid. xxvii. 21. 

3 See Psalm xxv. 12. 4 j^id. 4, 5, 9 ; cxliii. 8. 



VERSE 24, 



59 



in the indistinctness of our own perception. We 
want not a clearer rule, or a surer guide, but a more 
single eye. And if, after all, it may not mark every 
precise act of duty (for to do this I suppose that 
even the world itself could not contain the books that 
should be written,^^) yet it determines the standard, to 
which the most minute acting of the mind should be 
brought ; ^ and the disposition, which will reflect the 
light of the will of God upon our path. 2 But let it 
be remembered, that any want of sincerity in the 
heart 3— any allowance of self-dependence ^ — will ever 
close the avenues of this divine light and counsel. We 
are often unconsciously walking in the light of our 
own fire, and in the sparks that we have kindled." ^ 
Perhaps we sought, as we conceived, the guidance 
of the Lord's counsel, and conceive that we are 
walking in it. But, in the act of seeking, and as the 
preparation for seeking, did we feel the necessity of 
subjecting our motives and inclinations to a strict, 
cautious self-suspecting scrutiny } Was the heart 
schooled to the discipline of the cross ? Was ' ' every 
thought brought into captivity to the obedience of 
Christ ? " Or was not our mind and heart possessed 
with the object, before counsel was sought at the 
mouth of God ? Oh ! how careful should we be to 
walk warily in those uncertain marks of divine counsel, 
that fall in with the bias of our own inclination. 
How many false steps in the record of past experience 
maybe traced to the counsel of our own hearts, sought 
and followed to the neglect of the counsel of God ; 
while no circumstance of perplexity can befal us in 

1 1 Cor. X. 31. Col. iii. 17. - Matt. vi. 22, 23. 

2 1 Sam. xxviii. 6. Ezek. xiv. 2 — 4. ■* Prov. iii. 5, 6. 
* Isaiah 1. 11. 62 Cor. x. 5. 

7 Jos, ix. 14. Isaiah xxx. 1 — 3. 



bO EXPOSITION OF PSALM CXIX. 

the spirit of humility, simplicity, and sanctity, when 
the counsel of the Lord will fail. 

An undue dependence upon human counsel,^ whether 
of the living or the dead, may also operate unfavour- 
ably to the reception of the full influence of the 
counsel of the word. However valuable such counsel 
may be, and however closely it may agree with the 
word, we must not forget, that it is not the word^ — 
that it is fallible — and therefore must never be resorted 
to in the first place, or followed with that full 
reliance, which we are warranted to place on the 
revelation of God. On the other hand, what is it to 
have God's word as our ''Counsellors?" Is it not 
to have Himself ? When our Bibles in seasons of 
difliculty, are searched in a humble, prayerful, teach- 
able spirit, we are as much depending upon the Lord 
himself for counsel, as if we were listening to an 
immediate revelation from heaven. 

Let me then inquire, what is the counsel of God, 
that speaks directly to myself. If I am an unawakened 
sinner, it warns me to turn from sin 2— it invites me to 
the Saviour 3 — it directs me to wait upon God.^ If I 
am a professor, slumbering in the form of godliness, 
words of gracious counsel are off'ered to show me my 
real condition 5— -to instruct me in the all-sufliciency 
of Christ,^ and to caution me of the danger of hypo- 
crisy.7 If through grace I am made a child of God, 
still do I need my Father's counsel to recover me from 
perpetual backsliding ^ —to excite me to increased 
watchfulness,^ and to strengthen my confidence in the 
fulness of his grace and the faithfulness of his love.i^ 

^ Isaiah ii. 22. 2 Prov. i. 24— 31. Ezek. xxxiii. 11. 

3 Isaiah Iv. 1. John vii. 37. ^ Hosea xii. 6. 

5 Rev. iii. 17. ^ Ibid. 18. ^ Luke xii. 1. 

s Jer. iii. 12, 13. 9 1 Thess. v. 6. Rev. iii. 2. 

Isaiah xxYi.4. Heb. xii. 5, 6. 



VERSE 24. 



61 



Ever shall I have reason for the grateful acknowledge- 
ment — I will bless the Lord, who hath given me 
counsel." ^ And every step of my way would I 
desire to advance, glorifying my God and Father in 
the expression of my confidence in his counsel unto 
the end—'* Thou shalt guide me with thy counsel, 
and afterward receive me to sflory.''^ 



^ Psalm xvi. 7. 



2 Ibid, ixxiii. 23, 



62 



EXPOSITION OF PSALM CXIX. 



PART IV. 

25. My soul cleaveth unto the dust : quicken thou me 
according to thy word. 

No one can lay claim to the character and privileges 
of a believer, to whom sin is not the greatest sorrov^^ 
and the heaviest burden, i To have a soul cleaving 
unto the dust,'' and to feel the trouble of it, is 
the black mark of a sinner, " dead in sins" — dead to 
God. To know the plague of our ovm heart," ^ 
to feel our misery, to believe the remedy, and to 
apply it to our own case, ^ is the satisfactory evidence 
of a child of God. Uust is the portion of the world ; 
they wish for no better. But how strange, how 
humbling, that the believer should still continue to 
have so much connexion with the dust— so polluting 
as it is to the touch, the taste, and the habit of the 
renewed man, yet that there should be a cleaving 
to it ! " Alas, how close it clings ! And it is this 
that, like the dust of the summer road, blinds our 
eyes, and obscures our prospects. It is this earth- 
liness of the soul that obstructs our brighter view 
of the Saviour, dims the eye of faith, and hides the 
glorious prospects which, if beheld in the clear 
horizon, would enliven and invigorate us in our hea- 
venly way. But in the midst of conflict, humiliation, 
and discouragement, the believer prays—'' Quicken 
me,'' Jesus came that we might have life ; " let us 
come to him that we may have it more abundantly." ^ 

^ Psalm xxxviii. 4. ^ 1 Kings viii. 38. 

2 Rom. vii. 24, 25. ^joj^x. 10. 



VERSE 25. 



63 



The plea is such as must have power with God and 
prevail" — According to thy word'''' — Faithful is 
he that calleth you, who also will do it." ^ But how 
different is the character of the professor ; ready 
probably to make the same confession, yet without 
humiliation, without prayer, without faith ! Nothing 
is more common than to hear the complaint — ' My 
soul cleaveth unto the dustJ^ The world has such 
power over us — we are so cold — so dead to God ! ' 
whilst perhaps the complaint is never once brought 
to God — - never accompanied with earnest wrestling 
for quickening grace. Nay, more, the complaint is 
often the language of self-complacency, and urged 
as an evidence of the good state of the heart before 
God. Yet it is not the complaint of sickness, but 
an application to the physician, that advances the 
recovery of the patient. We do not usually expect 
to improve our condition, by wishing it better, or by 
mourning that it is so bad. Nor is it the confession 
of sin, but the application to him who alone is able 
to relieve our case, that marks the real contrition of 
the soul before God. When confession evaporates in 
heartless complaints, it has little connexion with the 
tenderness of a heart, whose secret springs have been 
touched by Divine grace. But when the utterance 
of prayer flows from the expression of complaint, 
it is the voice of God's own " Spirit making inter- 
cession for us ; - and how sweet the encouragement 
that he that searcheth the hearts, knoweth what 
is the mind of the Spirit, because he maketh inter- 
cession for the saints according to the will of God." ^ 
Some are ready to give up or delay their duty, 
when they have been unable to bring their heart to 



1 1 Thess. V. 23, 24. 



^ Rom. viii. 26. 



3 Ibid. 27. 



64 EXPOSITION OF PSALM CXIX. 

it. Thus indeed does ' Satan get advantage of us ' 
by our ^ ignorance of his devices.' Quickening grace 
is not the ground or warrant for duty. Indisposition 
to duty is not our weakness but our sin— not therefore 
to be indulged but resisted. We must mourn over 
llie dulness that hinders us, and diligently wait for 
the ' help we every moment need.^ God keeps the 
grace in his own hands to exercise our daily depend- 
ence upon him. But the door will not be long shut 
to him, who has faith and patience to wait until it 
is opened. 

IVow let me sift the character of my profession. 
Is it such as humbles me in a painful sense of short- 
comings ? .Am I never spending time in fruitful 
bemoanings of my state, which had been far better 
spent in vigorous actings of grace ? If I find my 
soul cleaving to the dust,^' am I not sometimes 

lying on my face," ^ when I ought to be taking 
heaven by violence, ^ by importunate restless pe- 
titions for quickening grace ? Are my prayers in- 
vigorated by confidence in the word of God ? Is my 
religion an habitual, persevering, overcoming conflict 
with sin ? 

O Lord, make me more deeply ashamed, that ?nif 
soul should cleave to the dust.'^ Breathe upon me 
fresh influence from thy quickening Spirit. Help 
me to plead thy word of promise ; and oh ! may 
every fresh view of my sinfulness, while it prostrates 
me in self-abasement before thee, be overruled to 
^dear the Saviour as daily and hourly more precious 
to my soul. For defiled as I am in myself, in every 
service of my heart, what but the unceasing applica- 
tion of his blood, and the uninterrupted prevalence 



^ Joshua vii. 10. 



2 Matt. xi. 12. 



VERSE 26. 



65 



of his intercession, gives me a moment's confidence 
before thee, or prevents the very sins that mingle with 
my prayers from sealing my condemnation ? Blessed 
Saviour ! it is nothing but thy everlasting merit co- 
vering my person, and honouring my sacrifice, that 
satisfies the justice of an offended God, and restrains 
it from breaking forth as a devouring fire to consume 
me upon my very knees ! 

26. / have declared my ways^ and thou heardest me : 
teach me thy statutes, 

A BEAUTIFUL description of the simplicity and 
godly sincerity " ^ of the believer's walk with God 1 " 
He spreads his whole case before his God, " declaring 
his ways " of conduct with filial confidence, his ways 
of difficulty with holy fellowship, and his ways of 
sinfulness with tender contrition. It is his delight 
to acquaint him with all his undertakings ; to receive 
his direction ; - and to tell him his distress, that 
he may be guided by his counsel, confirmed by his 
strength, pitied by his love, and delivered by his 
power. And how sweet, above all, to overcome his 
strangeness under a sense of guilt, and to lay open 
his ways of sin before him without partiality and 
without hypocrisy ! '' ^ Then indeed he is enabled to 
say, Thou heardest me." " When I kept sileyice, 
my bones waxed old through my roaring all the day 
long." 4 While the voice of ingenuous confession was 
suppressed, cries and lamentations were disregarded. 
It was not the voice of the penitent child, and therefore 
" where was the sounding of his father's bowels, and 

1 Prov, hi. 6. 2 Comp. Psalm xxxiv. 4—6 . 

3 Comp. Psalm li. 3 ; Ixix. 5. ^ Ibid, xxxii. 3. 



66 EXPOSITION OF PSALM CXIX. 

of his mercies towards him ? ^ But now, on the first 
utterance of confession from his lips, or rather on the 
first purpose of contrition formed in his heart ; " while 
he is yet speaking," 2 the pardon, the full and free 
pardon, had been signed in heaven, and comes down 
with royal parental love to his soul—*' I said, I will 
confess my transgression unto the Lord ; and thou 
forgavest the iniquity of my sin/' ^ Qh ! what cannot 
the child of God, in the same spirit of ingenuous 
confession, testify of the more than parental tenderness 
with which his transgression is forgiven, and his sin 
covered." 4 And yet how necessary to the free decla- 
ration of our ways is an acquaintance with the way 
of forgiveness ! If our great High Priest had not 
passed into the heavens, how awful would have been 
the thought, that " all things were naked and opened 
unto the eyes of him with whom we have to do ! " 
What inducement could we have to declare our ways 
before him ? But now, while our ways^^ are so 
defiled, so crooked, that we are made to abhor our- 
selves on account of them, we are yet encouraged 
boldly to " declare" them all before God with the 
assurance of finding pardon, acceptance, and seasonable 
supply of grace. ^ 

Thus also the child of God gains confidence in 
prayer for the continued teaching of his Father's 
Spirit; knowing that, as he could not find the way 
of return at first, so cannot he now walk in it, except 
under the guidance of his God — " Teach me thy 
way, O Lord : I will walk in thy truth." ^ ''I have 
declared my " ignorance, my sinfulness, and my whole 

^ Isa, Ixiii. 15. 2 j^^n. ix. 20. 

3 Psalm xxxii. 5. 2 Sam. xii. 13. Compare Jer. iii. 12, 13. 
^ Compare Psalm xxxii. 1. Luke xv. 18 — 22. Prov. xxviii. 13. 
5 Heb. iv. 13—16. e Psalmlxxxvi.il. 



VERSE 26. 



67 



experience before thee, in dependence on thy pardon- 
ing mercy, thy teaching Spirit, and assisting grace — - 

And thou hast heard meJ^ O continue to me what 
thou hast been, and teach me more of thyself ? 

Are we sincere in our dealings with God ? Are 
we daily opening our hearts before him ? How often 
do we treat our Almighty friend as a stranger ! as if 
we were weary of dealing with him. And when w^e 
do declare our ways " before him, are we not often 
content to leave it as a matter of uncertainty whether 
he has heard us or not ? We think too little of 
the importance of watching for an answer to our 
prayers. It is such an encouragement to pray 
again. ^ It gives such a sweetness to the mercies 
received, when they come to us marked with this 
inscription — Received by prayer.'^ It is not our 
inevitable weakness, 2 nor our lamented dulness, ^ 
nor our abhorred wanderings, ^ nor our opposed dis- 
tractions, ^ nor our mistaken unbelief ; ^ — it is not 
any, no, nor all these, that can shut out our prayer. 
If ''iniquity" is not '' regarded in our heart,'^ we 
may always hear our Saviour's voice — " Verily , verily, 
I say unto you. Whatsoever ye shall ask the Father 
in my name, he will give it you. Hitherto have ye 
asked nothing in my name. Ask, and ye shall receive, 
that your joy may be full." 7 

It is the echo of the believer that answers to this 
voice — '* J have declared my ways^ and thou heardest 
me : teach me thy statutes ^ 

^ Psalmcxvi. 1, 2. ^ Rom.vii.21. ^ Mark xiv. 38, 40. 
^ Verse 113. ^ Psalm Ixxxvi. 1 1, last clause. 

^ Mark ix. 22, 24. John xvi. 23, 24. ' 

Q Every way worthy of that great man, and a most instructive 
illustration of Christian sincerity, was the resolution of President 
Edwards. — ^ Resolved to exercise myself in this all my life long, 
viz. with the greatest openness to declare my ways to God, and 
lay open my soul to him — all my sins, temptations, difficulties. 



68 



EXPOSITION OF PSALM CXIX. 



27. Make me to understand the way of thy precept : 
so shall I talk of thy wondrous works. 

Who is there that has ever been found to under- 
stand this way of himself? and who has ever found 
the Lord unwilling to show it to him? To him 
that ordereth his conversation aright, will I show the 
salvation of God.'' 1 A man untaught by the Spirit 
of God, may be able to criticise, write, and speak, 
of the word of God, and may discover much, and 
explain much to others, of the beauty and importance 
of its contents. But such a prayer as this has never 
ascended from his heart; and perhaps the necessity 
of it has never occurred to his mind. And doubtless 
from this neglect of prayer for divine illumination, 
have arisen those false and erroneous views of the 
doctrines of Scripture, which crude, unexercised minds 
have too hastily embraced. Instead of humbly and 
simply asking—^' Make me to understand the way 
of thy precepts " — they lean to their own understand- 
ing, — trust to the bias of their own judgment, aiid 
thus become " unstable — wresting the Scriptures," 
if not to their final " destruction," 2 at least to the 
destruction of their establishment and steadiness in 
the ways of God. And whilst the Divine teaching 
is indispensable in order to a right knowledge of the 
most simple truths of God's word, (for what truth 
is too simple to be perverted by carnal prejudice, 
or misunderstood by wilful ignorance ? ) it will be 
found amply sufficient to lead us into that measure 

sorrows, fears, hopes, desires, and every thing, and every circum- 
stance, according to Dr. Manton's twenty-seventh sermon on the 
cxix. Psalm.* 

Resol. 65.— Extracted from his Diary.— Works, vol i. 16. 
* Psalm 1. 23. 2 9 Pet. iii. 16. 



VERSE 27. 



69 



of understanding which is needful for us of those 
deeper and more mysterious ways " of God, which 
have so often proved as rocks, upon which the weak 
or the self-conceited have struck, and thus ^' made 
shipwreck of their faith." ^ And how does this 
prayer remind us of the promise of the Spirit ^ to 
guide us into a spiritual understanding of the way 
and word of God — especially of the knowledge of his 
dear Son. With this promise in view, as the direction 
of his prayer, and the warrant of his faith, the simple, 
heaven-taught child of God takes his place at the feet 
of his Saviour, and prays—'' Make me to understand 
the way of thy precept s.^^ For he never expects to 
make one step of advance in divine knowledge without 
such a prayer as this — " If thou criest after know- 
ledge, and liftest up thy voice for understanding; 
if thou seekest her as silver, and searchest for her 
as for hid treasures ; then shalt thou understand the 
fear of the Lord, and find the knowledge of God." ^ 
And when we remember that a day is approaching, 
when the smallest attainments in this knowledge 
will be of infinitely greater value than all the know- 
ledge of the world, with what earnest devotedness 
should we apply our hearts to a clearer acquaint- 
ance with this way, and a more steady and uniform 
walk in it ! 

But let us mark the object for which David 
desired understanding in the way of God's precepts 
~" So shall I talk of thy wondrous works, For 
thus the humble believer will desire to know more 
of this way, that his tongue may be employed in 
commending it to others — not that he may be pleased 
with himself, and indulge in a self-complacent view 



» 1 Tim. i. 19. 



2 John xvi. 13—15. 



3 Prov. ii. 3—5. 



70 EXPOSITION OF PSALM CXIX. 

of his attainments, but that God may be more admired 
by him and " glorified in him/' ' and that he may 
advance himself, and lead others forward, in the fear, 
love, obedience, and praise of God. 

It is a frequent complaint with Christians, that 
they are straitened in religious conversation, and 
often feel unable to speak " to the use of edifying, 
that they may minister grace to the hearers/'^ Here 
then is the secret disclosed, by which we shall be 
kept from the danger of dealing in unfelt truths, and 
*'out of the abundance of the heart our mouths will 
speak." 3 Seg]^ hdi^e the heart searched, cleansed, 
filled with the graces of the Spirit. Humility, teach- 
ableness, simplicity, will bring light into the under- 
standing, influence the heart, " open the lips," and 
unite every member that we have in the service and 
praise of God. 

28. My soul meltethfor heaviness : strengthen thou me 
according unto thy ivord, 

How^ diff"erent the condition of the people of God 
from the world ! and yet how much more enviable ! 
Their soul melteth for heaviness^' They groan 
under the power of sin, and realize so little strength 
in resisting it ! But this is only for a season." 
" Weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh 
in the morning." ^ This is a needs be" for it while 
it remains, and in the end it will " be found unto 
praise and honour and glory." 5 IVever perhaps are 
their graces more lively, or the gTound of their as- 
surance more clear, than in these sorrowing seasons 
of conflict. They complain, indeed, of the power of 

^ Gal. i. 24. Matt. v. 16. 2 Epj^^g^ ^9, 

s Matt. xii. 34. ^ Psalm xxx. 5. ^ i petg^ 



VERSE 28. 



71 



indwelling sin in all its various actings. But their 
complaints are the evidences of the power of grace at 
those very moments working mightily within them. 
For what is it but the principle of faith that makes 
unbelief their burden ? What but hope that struggles 
with their fears ? What but love that makes their 
coldness a grief to them ? What but humility that 
causes them to loathe their pride ? What but the 
secret spring of thankfulness that shows them their 
unthankfulness, and shames them for it ? And there- 
fore the very depth of their heaviness melting their 
souls'^ away, is the exhibition of the strength and 
establishment of God's work within, upholding them 
in perseverance of conflict to the end ; so that the 
believer would not exchange his heaviest moments 
with the most prosperous condition of the ungodly. 
Xo — rather would he say — " Let me not eat of their 
dainties." * Far better, and we may add, far hap- 
pier, is godly sorrow than worldly joy. In the midst 
of his misery, the Christian is most happy ; nor 
would he resign his hope in the gospel, though often 
obscured by unbelief, and clouded by fear, for ''all 
the kingdoms of the world and the glory of them.'^ 
Though ''the heart knoweth his own bitterness, yet 
a stranger doth not intermeddle with his joy.'' 2 
Yet indeed there is a bitterness that is keenly felt. 
Sin is a source of daily heaviness — as displeasing to 
a tender and gracious Father ^ — as having pierced 
the heart that loves him,^ and shed the blood that 

' Psalm cxli. 4. 

^ Prov. xiv. 10. * A good man lying on his bed of sickness, and 
being asked — Wiiich were the most comfortable days that he ever 
knew ? cried out — O give me my mourning days ; give me my 
mourning days again, for they were the joyfullest days that ever I 
had.' — Brookes's Works. 

2 Psalm li. 4. ^ Zech. xii. 10. 



72 EXPOSITION OF PSALM CXIX. 

saves him—and as ''gTieving"i that beloved friend 
the indwelling Comforter of his soul." God 
therefore expects to see him a mourner, and he feels 
he has reason enough to mourn — " My soul melteth 
for heaviness.'^ But this cry of distress is sometimes 
the utterance of the child under the needful chastise- 
ment of a father's love. The world is dethroned, 
but not extirpated in the heart. Much remains to 
be purged, much dross is yet to be removed. The 
sources of the too attractive earthly joy must be 
embittered : and now it is that the discipline of the 
cross forces the cry—'' My soul melteth for heavi- 
ness.'' Yet in the midst of heaviness the child of 
God cannot forget that he is loved — that he is saved ; 
and the recollection of this sovereign mercy seems to 
make the tears with which he mourned for sin, tears 
of joy. 

But the heaviness under which we are bound down, 
has never done its appointed work, until a sense of 
our weakness to struggle against it has brought us 
to the throne of grace — " Strengthen thou me.''' No 
burden, trial, conflict, or difficulty, however gTeat, 
can stand before Almighty strength — ''Fear not, 
thou worm Jacob ; thou shalt thresh the mountains, 
and beat them small." ^ x^^^ especially when the^ 
plea is drawn, as it is repeatedly in this Psalm,^ from 
the word and promise of God— " according to thy 
word " — our success is assured. For what is that 
word? "As thy days, so shall thy strength be."^ 
" Will he plead against me," said Job, "with his 
great power ? No ; but he will put strength in me." ^ 
Thus David found it in his own case — " In the day 
when I cried, thou answerest me, and strengthenest 

^ Ephes, iv. 10. 2 jga. xli. 14, 15. 

2 Verses 25, 41, 58, &c. ^ Deut. xxxiii. 25. Job xxiii. 6. 



VERSE 28. 73 

me with strength in my soul/' i Thus also to the 
Apostle was the word of promise given and fulfilled 

My gTace is sufficient for thee, for my gTace is 

made perfect in weakness." - And who does not find, 
that ^^the God of Israel is '' still ^^he that oiveth 
strength and power unto his people ; *' ^ still the 
same faithful God, who will not sufi:er them to be 
tempted above that they are able, but will with the 
temptation also make a way to escape, that they may 
be able to bear it."^ When we are most sensible 
of our utter helplessness, and most simple in our 
reliance upon divine strength, then it is that the soul 
melting for heaviness is most especially upheld 
and established. Truly therefore may it be said — 
Heaviness in the heart of man maketh it stoop, but 
a s:ood word maketh it oiad." ^ And how revivino- 
is that ''good word'' of the Gospel, which proclaims 
the office of the Saviour to '' give the garment of 
praise for the spirit of heaviness," and as gifted with 
" the tongue of the learned, that he might know how 
to speak a word in season unto him that is weary."" 
And no less encouraging is it to view Him " melting 
for heaviness'' — ''being soiTowful and very heavy," s 
under the accumulated weight of imputed guilt ; for 
by this bitter discipline he learned, " in that he him- 
self suffered being tempted, to succour them that are 
tempted." 9 Yet was he, like his faithful servant, 
supported according to his Father's word. For, in 
the moment of his bitterest agony, "there appeared 
an angel unto him fi'om heaven sti'engthening him."J^^ 
And his people are taught to expect that, " as the 
sufferings of Christ abound in them, so their consola- 

^ Psalmcxxxviii. 3. - 2 Cor. xii. 8, 9. ^ Psalm Ixviii 35 
\ 1 Cor. X. 13. 5 Pj.o^-_ 25. ^ Isaiah Ixi. 3. 

' Isaiah 1. 4. s T^ark xiv. 33. 9 Heb. ii. 18. 

Luke xxii. 43. 
E 



74 EXPOSITION OF PSALM CXIX. 

tioil also aboundeth by Christ." ^ The blessed word 
will supply all their need — life for their quickening, 
light for their direction, comfort for their enjoyment, 
strength for their support — Strengthen thou me 
according unto thy luord.^^ 

Lord, may I ever be kept from despondency — 
regarding it as sinful in itself, dishonourable to thy 
grace, and weakening to my soul ; and though I must 
'''needs be sometime in heaviness through manifold 
temptations,'^ yet let the power of faith be in constant 
exercise, that I may be able to expostulate with my 
soul — ''Why art thou cast down, O my soul, and 
why art thou disquieted within me ? hope thou in God : 
for I shall yet praise him, who is the health of my 
countenance and my God."^ 

29. Remove from me the way of lying ; and grant me 
thy laic graciously. 

Every deviation in pruiciple and conduct from the 
strait and nan'ow path, is a way of lying." Every 
traveller in the way is the victim of his own delusion. 

He feedeth on ashes : a deceived heart hath turned 
him aside, that he cannot deliver his soul, nor say — 
' Is there not a lie in my right hand ? " ^ How need- 
ful then is the prayer — Remove from me the way 
of lying,'^ If at any time we ''should be removed 
from him that called us into the grace of Christ unto 
another gospel : " ^ if erroneous views of doctrine 
should find a place in our system of faith ; if our 
dependence upon Christ should be mixed with a 
secret leaning to something in omselves, then indeed, 
this prayer will apply most fitly to our case. And 

' 1 2 Cor. i. 5. 2 Psalm xlii. 11. 

^ Isaiah xliv. 20. Gal. i. 6. 



VERSE 29. 75 

if, as the natural consequence of doctrinal errors, any 
looseness or inconsistency should be marked in our 
practice ; if there should be any undue concessions to 
the world, any allowed sinful indulgence in the heart, 
any shrinking from the daily cross, there will be fresh 
occasion for this prayer—'^ Remove from me the way 
of lying,''— Most justly are ways such as these called 
^^ys of lying.'' They promise what it is impossible, 
in the nature of things, that they can ever perform, 
and prove to their deluded followers, that " they that 
observe lying vanities, forsake their own mercies." i 
We can be at no loss to trace these ways of lying " 
to their proper source— to him, who, when he speak- 
eth a lie, speaketh of his own ; for he is a liar and the 
father of it.'' 2 ^s, in the first instance of transgression, 
^he beguiled Eve through his subtility \" ^ so it is 
his constant employment throughout a world lying 
under his sway, to beguile the blinded " children of 
disobedience ^ i^to the awful deception of mistaking 
their God, and into the blind choice of preferring 
" broken cisterns " to " the fountain of living waters/'^ 
It is indeed a distinguishing mercy to have the way 
of lying removed from us," Every deviation from 
the Christian course proceeds from a neglect of the 
only method of this removal— the gracious knowledge 
of the law of God. That Zaw;-~applied by the teach- 
ing of the Spirit of God—introduces the light, and 
infuses the savour, of the knowledge of Christ " into 
the heart. Truth will gradually extirpate " lying ; " 
Christ will reign instead of Belial ; and the promises 
of heavenly teaching will be effectually fultilled. 
Let us, however, remember the importance of " keep- 

1 Jonah ii. 8. ' 2 johnviii. 44. 

^ Gen. iii. 1—6, with 2 Cor. xi. 3. 
* Rev. xii. 9, with 2 Cor. iv. 4. Eph. ii. 2. ^ 

E 2 



Ii 



76 EXPOSITION OF PSALM CXIX. 

ing our hearts with all diligence ; for out of them are 
the issues of life.'^ ^ They are the leading wanderers 
that mislead the rest. Wherever we see wandering 
eyes, wandering feet, and a wandering tongue, all flow 
from a heart, that has taken its own liberty in wander- 
ing from God. Let us then take the law for our rule,, 
and the Spirit — even '^the Spirit of Truth for our 
guide ; and we shall be directed and kept in the way^ 
so clearly marked out for us in the word of God. And 
let us carefully mark the gracious answers to this prayer ^ 
in a clearer perception of the truth of the law of God^ 
a more sensitive shrinking from forbidden objects, and 
a more devoted attachment to the way of truth. 

30. / have chosen the way of truth : thy judgments 
have I laid before me. 

Only two ways lie before us for our choice — the 
way of lying,''' and " the way of truth'' — God by the 
light of his word guiding us unto one — Satan by his 
temptations alluring us into the other. But until 

the way of lying is removed from us," the way 
of truth " must be hid. It is the Lord's teaching that 
shows us the way ,2 and his grace that enables us to 

choose " it. 3 Has any believer, in the subsequent 
course of his experience, found reason to alter his first 
determination ? Does Mary regret the choice which 
she made ? ^ One, whose solid and reflecting judgment 
was not likely to make a rash or hasty choice, tells 
us, in reference to the outset of his course — What 
things were gain to me, those I counted loss for 
Christ." And instead of repenting of his choice, the 
experience of twenty years only served to confirm him 

1 Prov. iv. 23. ^ Psalm xxv. 4 : xxxii. 8. Isa, xlviii. 17. 
3 Psalm ex. 3. Isa. xliv. 3—5. ^ Luke x. 42. 



VERSE 30. 77 

in it; and he repeats his determination, with increasing- 
energy of expression : " Yea, doubtless, and I count 
all things but loss for the exceliency of the knowledge 
of Christ Jesus my Lord." i In the same spirit one 
of the ancient fathers expresses himself: If I have 
any possessions, health, credit, learning ^ — this is all 
the contentment I have of them — that I may have 
something to despise for Christ, who comprises in his 
own person all and every thing that is most desirable,'^ - 

In comparing, however, this verse with the preceding, 
we remark a striking illustration of the bias of the 
believer's heart. His experience of the deceitfulness 
of sin, Satan, and his own heart, stirs up the prayer — 
" Remove from me the way of lying'' But his choice 
is expressed in this verse—'' / have chosen the way 
of truth J' The sincere desire to have the way of 
lying removed from us,'' is a clear evidence that we 
have already "chosen the way of truth;" that the 
Spirit of truth hath guided us to him, ^ who is indeed 

the way of truth ''—the true and only way to God ! ^ 
And of all ways that could be set before the Chiistiau, 
this is the way he would " choose " — as bringing most 
glory to his God, exalting the Saviour, honouring the 
Spirit of God, and securing the salvation of his own 
soul. Whatever becomes of me— the Christian would 
feel — ' I would have no other way than this. Yea, 
though I should perish, I would abide in it. — So tran- 
scendent is the discovery which it affords of the glory of 
God,— scarcely less clear than the glory of heaven itself.' 

The practical pathway, however, is often rugged — 
always narrow. We may have to encounter not only 
the reviling and the sneer of an ungodly world, but even 

1 Phil. iii. 7, 8. 
- ' Totus desirabilis et totum desirabile.' — Greg. Naz. Orat. i. 
2 John xvi. 13, 14. * Ibid. xiv. 6. 

E 3 



78 EXPOSITION OF PSALM CXIX. 

the suspicions of our brethren, who may not always be 
able to understand our motives. Yet if our heart is up- 
right with God, none of these things will move us. Our 
choice is made, and we are prepared to abide the cost. ^ 

But that our choice may be daily established, let 
us not forget the treasury of our life, light, and grace. 
Let us lay the judgments of God before us,'' For 
we have always some new lesson to learn — some new 
duty to perform — some new snare to avoid. must 
therefore walk by rule^ — as under the eye of Jesus, a 
jealous God, who enlightens and cheers our path— under 
the eye of the ungodly, who watch for our halting — 
under the eye of weak Christians who might be stumbled 
by our unsteady walk— under the eye of established 
Christians, who will be yet further established by the 
testimony of our consistent profession. The promises 
of the Gospel are abundantly sufficient for this strict 
and accurate walk. Here the obedience that is en- 
joined is secured. " God working in us ^'^ enables us 
to work for him ; and while we are humbly looking for 
further supplies, and diligently improving what has 
been already bestowed, he is pledged by promise to 
assist, ^ as we are bound by duty to obey. 

What then — let me inquire — is the choice which 
I have made ? I would remember it is for eternity. 
And if, through the grace that has first chosen me, 
" I have chosen the way of truth,'' is the effect of this 
choice daily visible in a life and conversation well- 
ordered according to the word of God ? If it is good 
to hide that word in my heart,'' ^ as a safe-guard 
against sin, it is good also to lay it before" my eyes 
as the chart to guide my course— the model to direct 
my work — the support to uphold my weakness. 

> Luke xiv. 28. 2 gee Gal. vi. 16. Phil. iii. 16. 

3 Phil. ii. 12, 13. Isaiah xxvi. 12. 
^ Isaiah xli. 10. Zech. x. 12. s Verse 11. 



VERSE 31. 



79 



31. I have stuck unto thy testimonies : Lord, put me 

not to shame. 

While David complained of his soul cleaving 
unto the dust,'^ ^ he was yet enabled to say — I have 
stuck unto thy testimonies J ^ And how exactly does 
this experience accord with the features of every real 
Christian's heart, (or two hearts, as a converted African 
once expressed it,) described in the Apostle's picture 
of himself — I delight in the law of God after the 
inward man ; but I see another law in my members, 
warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me 
into captivity to the law of sin, which is in my mem- 
bers. So then with the mind I myself serv^e the law 
of God; but with the flesh the law of sin.''^ The 
most painful conflicts, however, will not destroy the 
believer's consciousness of being a new creature in 
Christ Jesus. He feels that he hates the sin that he 
commits, and loves the Saviour whom, in spite of 
himself, he dishonours ; and then, with all his sins 
and unworthiness, he fears not to put in his claim 
among the family of God. 

But, reader, seriously ask yourself — How did you 

^ Verse 25. 

2 Rom. vii. 22, 23, 25. Most graphicall}' is this conflict de- 
picted in the interesting record which Augustine has given of the 
exercises of his own mind — ' The new will which began to be in 
me, whereby I would love thee, O my God, the only certain 
sweetness, w^as not yet able to overcome my former will, con- 
firmed by long continuance. So my two wills, the one old, the 
other new ; the one carnal, the other spiritual, conflicted between 
themselves, and rent my soul by their disagreement. Then did 
I understand by my o\vn experience what I had read, how the 

flesh lusteth against the spirit, and the spirit lusteth against 
the flesh." I was myself on both sides, but more in that which 
I approved, than in that which I condemned, in myself, because 
for the most part I sufl'ered reluctantly what I did willingly.' — 
Confess. Book viii. ch. 5. Compare Rom. vii. 15 — 20. 



«0 EXPOSITION OF PSALM CXIX. 

become a ChristiaH ? Was it by birth and education, 
or by choice ? If indeed by grace you have been 
enabled to choose the ivay of truth;' then be sure 
you cleave to it, so that no business, nor pleasure, nor 
difficulties, turn you away from it. Unless indeed 
you stick to'' your choice, better, far better, were it 
that you had not made it all. " No man having 
put his had to the plough, and looking back, is fit 
for the kingdom of God. If ye continue in my word, 
then are ye my disciples indeed. It had been better 
for you not to have known the way of righteousness, 
than, after you have known it, to turn from the holy 
commandment delivered unto you." ^ Yet there must 
be a daily conflict maintained with the world, and 
what is nlore difficult, with self, if " with purpose 
of heart you would cleave unto the Lord." 2 You 
wiJl often be tempted to turn aside. The length and 
weariness of the day, ^ and the slowness of your pro- 
gress, are sources of constant and harassing trial. It 
will be well, therefore, often to inquire, what was the 
reason of your original choice ? Was it made under 
the light, direction, and encouragement of an awakened 
and enlightened conscience ? This reason may well 
bind you to stick to" it; for the more steadily 
you hold fast your profession," the greater expe- 
rience you will have of its reality, the more you will 
be able to overcome opposing difficulties, and to 
assure your own heart, that the way which you have 
chosen, and to which you stick," is a " way of 
pleasantness and peace." ^ Backslider ! have you 
found God ''a wilderness, or a land of darkness," ^ 
that you could think or deserting him, and returning 

' Luke ix. 62. Jotm viii. 31. 2 Peter ii. 21 . 
2 Acts xi. 23. 3 Numb. xxi. 4. 

^ Prov. iii. 17. ^ jgremiah ii. 31. 



VERSE 31. 81 

to the world for happiness ? Is it wise to forsake 
the fountain " for " broken cisterns ? " i Is it likely 
to make you happier in this world ? And is it not 
certain (unless through abounding grace you are 
recovered) to bring you to perdition in the next ? 
And have you forgotten who it was, that befriended 
you in the moment of awful extremity, and snatched 
you as a bmnd from the burning ? Have you for- 
gotten the costly proofs of his love, when he conde- 
scended to become a man, and a man of sorrows,'' 2 
and to die in the agony of the cross, bearing the curse 
for you ? 3 And does not gratitude remind you, what 
returns of faithful service are due from a creature so 
infinitely indebted to him as you have been ? Surely 
the stedfast perseverance with which his heart clave to 
the work that brought him down from heaven,^ may 
serve to put to shame the unsteadiness of your purpose 
in ''sticking to his testimonies.'' Believer! you are 
determined to abide by your choice. But let not 
your confidence be in your o\vn strength. Remember 
him, who one hour declared that he would sooner die 
with Christ than deny him, and the next hour denied 
him with oaths and curses : ^ and learn to foilov/ up 
your resolution with instant prayer—** Lord, put 
me not to shame'' Leave me not to myself, lest 
I become a shame to myself, and an offence to thy 
church. " I will keep thy statutes, O forsake me 
not utterly." 6 Dependence upon the Lord, in a deep 
sense of our weakness, is the only way of perseverance 
in steadfast obedience. He will never shut out the 
prayer of his faithful servant.— He hath promised — 
" My people shall never be ashamed; "7 and, taking 

' Jeremiah ii. 13. - Isaiah liii. 3. 3 q^j^ jij^ 

Compare Matt. xvi. 23. Luke xii. 50. Heb. xii. 2, 3 
^ Matt. xxvi. 35, 74. ^ Vgj.gg 7 j^g^j 07, 

E 5 



82 EXPOSITION OF PSALM CXIX. 

firm hold of his promise, you may go on your way 
rejoicing.'^ 

32. / will Tuu t}i€ way of thy coTntncLndmcntSf when 
thou shalt enlarge my heart. 

Let us look into our own experience for something 
responsive to this expression of the Christian's delight 
in the ways of God. If we have chosen the way 
of God's commandments/' and have been able to stick 
unto'' this way, we shall wish to run in it '^ with 
constancy, activity, and cheerfulness. We shall want 
to mend our pace. If we walk, we shall long to 

run." ^ There is always the same reason for progress 
that there was for setting out. Necessity, advantage, 
enjoyment, spur us on to the end. Whether therefore 
we have made little or much progress, we shall desire 
to make more ; we shall go on praying and walking, 
and praying that we may walk with a swifter motion : 
we shall be dissatisfied, yet not discouraged — faint, 
yet pursuing.^' ^ Now this is as it should be. This 
is after the pattern of the holy apostle — Brethren, I 
count not myself to have apprehended ; but this one 
thing I do ; forgetting those things which are behind, 
and reaching forth unto those which are before, I 
press toward the mark for the prize of the high 
calling of God in Christ Jesus.'' 2 But we must mark 
the secret as well as the pattern of Christian progress — 
looking beyond the Apostle, and the " so great cloud 
of witnesses with which we are encompassed " — and 

looking unto Jesus." ^ Faith is the principle of life, 
and supplies the daily motion of life, by directing our 
eye to him as ''the Author,'* until he ''becomes the 



i Judges viii. 4. 



" Phil. iii. 13, 14. 



3 Heb. xii. 1, 2. 



VERSE 32. 83 

Finisher" of our faith. This is at once our duty, our 
privilege, our happiness, and our strength. This is the 
point at which we begin to run. Hitherto the shackles 
of sin, self-righteousness, and unbelief, had hindered 
us : now we so run that we may obtain,'* ^ 

But in ''the way of God^s commandments^' how 
are we sore let and hindered " by a straitened heart ! 
And how often do we feel the heart as it were, shut 
up, that " it cannot get forth : "2 faith so low— desires 
so faint—hopes so narrow, that it seems impossible to 
make progress ! Perhaps we did run well," and have 
been '' hindered." ^ Perhaps the soul has been asleep 
in carelessness or self-indulgence ; or unbelief in some 
of its varied forms has prevailed ; and thus, while we 
''are not straitened " in God, we ''are straitened in 
our own bowels.^' 4 jf then the rich fool thought of 
enlarging his barns, when his stores had increased upon 
him,^ much more should not w^e be sending up the 
petition — " O that thou wouldest bless me indeed, and 
enlarge my coast ? " ^ \^^hatever cause we have to cry 
out — "My leanness, my leanness," 7_stiil let us, in 
the exercise of faith and prayer, be w^aiting for a more 
cheerful ability to love, serve, and praise. Let us be 
restless, till the prison doors are again opened, and the 
command is issued to the prisoners — "Go forth; and 
to them that are in darkness— Shew yourselves. Thev 
shall feed in the w^ays, and their pastures shall be in ai! 
high places." 8 The blessed "ways of God's com- 
mandments " lie before us ; and who knoweth but the 
Lord will once more shine upon us, once more unloose 
our fetters, and renew our strength ? Every motion, 
however, must proceed from the Lord's touch upon 

' 1 Cor. ix. 24. 2 Psalm Ixxxviii. 8. ^ Gal. v. 7. 
* 2 Cor. vi. 12. 5 Lukexii. 16—19. ^ j chron. iv. 10. 
' Isaiah xxiv. 16, s Ibid. xlix. 9. 



84 



EXPOSITION OF PSALM CXIX. 



the heart. Our resolutions may be sincere ; but with- 
out a spirit of dependence, we shall faint and be 
weary, and utterly fall/^ I will riin'^ — saith the 
believer — but how ? not in my own strength, but by 
the good hand of my God upon me," ^ enlirening and 
enlarging my heart. Where the Sphit of the Lord 
is, there is liberty.*' ^ Let me begin betimes — make 
haste — keep straight on — fix my eye on the mark— 

endure unto the end.'' I may yet expect *^the oil 
of gladness to make my chariot wheels move with 
ease, and in the joy of blessed surprise shall I exclaim 
— Or ever I was aware, my soul made me like the 
chariots of Amminadib." ^ Godly sorrow had made 
me serious, Now let holy joy make me active. The 
joy of the Lord is my strength,"^ and I am ready, 
under the power of constraining love,^ to work, to toil, 
and to obey. I am ready to run without weariness, to 

march onward" without fainting;^ not measuring 
my pace by my own strength, but looking to him 
who sti'engtheneth with all might by his Spirit in the 
inner man." ^ 

Happy fruit of wrestling prayer and diligent waiting 
on God ! — Joy in God, and strength to walk with him, 
with increasing knowledge of him, increasing commu- 
nion with, him, and increasing confidence in him. 

^ Ezra vii. 9. - 2 Cor. iii. 17. . ^ Cant, vi, 12. 

^ Neh. viii. 10. ^2 Cor. v. 14. 

^ Isaiah xl. 31, march onward."— Bp. Lowth's Version. 
' Ephes, iii, 16. 



VERSE 33. 



85 



PART V. 

33. Teach me, O Lord, the way of thy statutes, and I 
shall keep it unto the end. 

What a high and heavenly privilege is it to be under 
the teaching of our gi'acious Lord ! Lord, to whom 
shall we ? " ^ " Who teacheth like thee V- Who 
can effectually teach beside thee ? Have we not found 
in coming to thee, that the invincible unteachableness 
of the dullest heart has been overcome, sight given to 
the blind, and understanding to the simple ? Spiritual 
knowledge, however, will prove of little avail, unless 
it is employed for the purposes of practical obedience. 
What do we gain by the discovery even of important 
truth, if we be not moulded into the likeness of it— 
if we do not feel its influence, enlightening, persuading, 
constraining the soul unto ^' the obedience of faith ? 
Perhaps it may be considered one of the most striking 
proofs of the Divine origin of the statutes of Scrip= 
ture, and of the seal of God stamped upon them, that 
there is no thought of our heart connected with Chris- 
tian practice, that is not, in this holy book, directed 
to its proper end. How often do we see the most 
clear instructions for the regulation of our conduct, 
flow from single sentences or expressions in these 
statutes ; " evidently proving an infinite wisdom in 
their distribution, a reference in the eternal mind to 
every detail of practical duty, and a divine power and 
unction applying the word to the several circumstances 



» John vi, 68. 



2 Job xxxvi. 22. 



86 EXPOSITION OF PSALM CXIX. 

of daily conduct ! For indeed, what mind but the 
mind of God could have comprehended, in so small 
a compass, such a vast system of instruction ? In 
this view, therefore, supplication for Divine teaching 
becomes the spring of our obedient walk. For how 
can we keep " a way which we do not understand ? 
And who was ever taught the way of the Lord's 
statutes,'' without marking in them a spiritual beauty 
and sweetness, that needed no other constraint to win 
and direct the heart ? Our walk in this path realizes 
a happy evidence of union with the Saviour i—*^ the 
love of God is perfected m us " 2_and our confidence 
is established before God.^ Yet in order to continue 
in this strait and nan'ow path, we shall need daily 
teaching to the end. Xever therefore will this prayer 
be -out of season,"— - TeacA vie, Lord, the way 
of thy statutes/' And the answer to this prayer will 
issue in that which is the object nearest to the be- 
liever's heart, and which causes liim manv an anxious, 
and too often many an imbelievino- thouoht — the orace 
of perseverance. For under the constant infiuence 
of Divine teaching m the way of God, he cannot fail 
of " keeping that way unto the end, " And this 
crowning blessing thus secured by the promise of the 
Lord's teaching^ seals to him the hope of victorv 
over his spiritual enemies, and the participation of his 
Saviour's glory. 5 Confidence indeed without prayer 
is most daring presumption ; but the spiiit of continual 
supplication and dependence upon our glorious Head 
is the seal of our interest in that ^ well-ordered and 
sure covenant " which engages for the continuance 
of believers in -the way of the Lord's statutes ! 



^ 1 John iii. 24. 
^ Ibid. iii. 22. 



- Ibid. ii. 5. 



VERSE 34. 



87 



I will put my fear in their hearts, that they shall 
not depart from me, I will put my law in their 
inward parts, and write it in their hearts : and will be 
their God, and they shall be my people,^' ' 

34. Give me understanding, and I will keep thy law ; 
yea, I shall observe it with my whole heart. 

^ He that is his own teacher ^ — says Bernard — 
^has a fool for his master.' Man cannot teach what 
he does not know ; and of God and of his law he 
knows nothing. Therefore the beginning of wisdom 
is a consciousness of ignorance, a distrust of our own 
understanding, and a desire to be taught of God — 

Give me understanding The spiritual understand- 
ing is the gift of Jesus Christ. - He directs us to 
himself as the fountain from whence it flows — I am 
the light of the world ; he that followeth me shall not 
walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life.'' ^ 
And this understanding diff'ers from mere intellectual 
discernment or speculative knowledge, as being an 
influential principle, and the spring of spiritual activity 
in our walk with God ; ^ so that our obedience is 
not merely outward and reluctant, but the exercise 
of filial delight and wholeness of heart — not only 
looking to keep the law of God to the end, during 
our whole life ; but every day of our life ''with our 
whole heart, " Now are we still restless and per- 
severing in seeking more love to God, and gTeater 
alacrity in his service ? Do we long to engage our 
hearts with more entire devotedness to the work of 
obedience ? Then will this prayer be a suitable ex- 
pression of our need, and the utterance of a humble, 

^ Jer. xxxii. 40 ; xxxi. 33. ^ I John ii. 20 ; v. 20. 

3 John viii. 12 ; also xii. 46. * See Col. i. 9, 10. 



88 EXPOSITION OF PSALM CXIX. 

resolute petitioner. It is not however enough that we 
have once received, unless we are constantly receiving. 
We must ask, that we may receive ; but after we have 
received we must ask again. Yet such a prayer as this 
is never offered up, until the soul has in part received 
what it is here seeking for. The natural man is more 
or less ^^wise in his owii conceit,'' and has therefore 
no idea of his need of divine teaching. But even a 
clear apprehension of the doctrines of the Bible, a:nd 
of the truth as it is in Jesus," will not satisfy the 
real believer. Give me understanding — still 
the prayer of the most advanced proficient in the ways 
of God, not only that I may believe these doctrines, 
but that I may adorn them. And in ever^- occasion 
of need, in everj^ path of duty, this cry is repeated, 
with an importunity that is never wearisome to the 
ears of our gTacious Father. And in how many un- 
noticed instances has the answer been vouchsafed, 
when some clear and heavenly ray, darting unexpec- 
tedly into the mind, or some providential concurrence 
of unforeseen circumstances, has disentangled a path 
before intricate and involved, and marked it before us 
with the light of a sunbeam ! How many whispers 
of conscience ! how many seasonable suggestions in 
moments of darkness and perplexity may the observant 
child of God record, as the answer to this needful 
prayer ; ^^lioso is wise, and will observe these things, 
even they shall understand the loving-kindness of the 
Lord.'' 1 Nor will our growth in spiritual understand- 
ing fail to evidence itself in the steady consistency of a 
well-ordered conversation-—'^ Who is a wise man, and 
endued with knowledge among you ? Let him shew, 
out of a good conversation, his works with meekness 



Psalm evil. 43, 



VERSE 35. 89 

of wisdom/' ^ If then knowledge is valuable ac- 
cording to its usefulness, one ray of this practical 
knowledge of the ways of God— the result of prayer 
for heavenly teaching — is more to be prized than the 
highest attainments of speculative religion — flowing 
from mere human instruction. 

35. Make me to go in the path of thy conmandments ; 
for therein do I delight. 

Equally ignorant are we of the path of God's 
commandments, and impotent to walk in it. *'The 
light of life '' - is therefore promised, at once to give 
us understanding,^' and to " make us to go in the 
path J' Thus blindness is removed, light poured in, 
and quickening life imparted to walk in the light. 

All is of God,'' who worketh in us to will and to 
do of his good pleasure." ^ For since the natural 
inclination is not subject to the law of God, neither 
indeed can be ; " ^ some new bias, some constraining 
principle, some act of the power of God, must be 
introduced. "Tmn thou me, and I shall be turned."^ 

Make me to go in the path of thy commandment s,'' 
If ever our sphitual acquaintance with this path has 
given us any delight in it, still we want accelerated 
motion to run with increasing alacrity. We want to 
take the Lord God for our strength ; and he shall 
make our feet like hind's feet, and shall make us to 
walk upon our high places." ^ The path, however, 
w^henseen with the eye of sense, will appear uninviting. 
This distorted vision brings all its difficulties into full 
view, while all its counterbalancing enjoyments are 
hid. Let us however exercise that ''faith, which 

» James iii. 13. ^ John viii. 12. ^ phij, 

4 Rom. viii. 7. ^ Jer. xxxi. 18. ^ Hab. iii. 19. 



W EXPOSITION OF PSALM CXIX. 

is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence 
of things not seen.'' i Let us exhibit our proper 
character, " walking by faith and not by sight ; 
and our discernment of unseen things will be more 
clear, and our enjoyment of them more permanent. 
The prayer will then be with increasing earnestness 
of Ae^ixe—'' Make me to go in the path of thy com- 
mandments,^'' 

But we must not be content with walking in this 
way; we must seek to -'delight in it,'' Delight is 
the marrow of religion. God loveth a cheerful 
giver," 3 and accepts obedience only when it is given, 
not when it \^ forced. He loves the service of that 
man, who considers it his highest privilege and plea- 
sure to render it, and whose heart rejoices in the 
way, ''as a giant to run his race.''^ Fervent prayer 
£Uid cheerful obedience, mark the experience of the 
thriving Christian. As a true child of Zion, he 
is joyful in his King: ''5 he loves his service and 
counts it " perfect freedom," the dominion of love, 
mercy, and grace. — Perhaps however the poor, weak, 
self-condemned penitent is distressed by this descrip- 
tion of a child of God. He thinks he cannot find the 
same marks in himself ; and he too hastily concludes, 
that he does not belong to the heavenly family; not 
considering, that his very grief is caused by his love 
to, and delight in, that way in which he is so hindered, 
and in which he daily prays — Make me to go,'' It 
was probably the same sense of weakness and inability 
''to go in the path of God's commandments," which 
urged David's prayer ; and if it urges yours, poor 
trembling penitent; if it sends you to a throne of 



^ Heb. xi. 1. 2 2 Cor. v. 7. 

2 2 Cor. ix. 7. ^ Psalm xix. 5. 

^ Psalm cxlix. 2. 



VERSE 36, 



91 



grace, you will, ere long, receive an answer of peace, 
and go on your way rejoicing.'^ 

But whoever of us can say of this path — therein 
do I delight — we are not only following the *'man 
after God^s own heart," but we bear the image of 
David's Lord, and our fore-runner in this path. He 
could testify to his Father — " I delight to do thy will, 
O my God : and to his disciples — I have meat 
to eat that ye know not of. My meat is to do the will 
of him that sent me, and to finish his work : " and 
as a proof of the intenseness of his joy, he could to 
their great amazement, ''go before them''^ xo 
Jerusalem, unappalled by the baptism ^ of blood 
which awaited him; yea, even " straitened" with 
the unquenchable ardour of his love, '' until it was 
accomplished." 

36. Incline my heart unto thy testimonies^ and not to 

covetousness. 

But what is that power of God, which we just 
now conceived to be necessary to ''make us to go in 
the path of his commandments ? " No other force 
is employed than that of love. He bows and bends 
the will by his Divine touch, and thus effectually 
inclines and draws us to himself. " The day of his 
power," in which he " makes us willing,"^ is "a time 
of love." ^ "I drew them " — saith he — " with cords 
of a man, with bands of love."^ The remembrance 
of the natural indisposition and counteracting bias of 
the heart to this way of God, will deeply impress the 
need of this prayer — " Incline my heart,'' Covetous 

1 Psalm xl. 8, with Heb. x. 7. - John iv. 32, 34. 

3 Mark X. 32. ^ Luke xii. 50. ^ Psalm ex. 3. 

^ Ezek. xvi. 8. ' Rosea xi. 4. 



92 EXPOSITION OF PSALM CXIX. 

ness is this active principle within — opposing the 
workings of the renewed man, and assuming a thou- 
sand shapes and forms of gratifying self at the expense 
of love to God. Few but are ready to decry and 
condemn it in others, while perhaps it may be cleaving 
to themselves as their besetting sin. When the mind 
is suffered to grasp after the world, as if we were 
seeking our whole portion in it, we have the greatest 
reason to '^take heed" to our Lord's admonition, 
and ''beware of covetousness.'^ i When we invest 
earthly gratifications with any inherent excellency, we 
put them in the place of God, and (for the time at 
least) are under the influence of covetousness. When- 
ever therefore we feel an undue balance to our own 
interest or indulgences ; then will be a season for 
special application, that the bent of our heart may- 
be " inclined unto the testimonies of our God^ The 
question therefore is of primary moment — Has any 
advance been made in the subjugation of this baneful 
inclination ? Are we willing to part with our sub- 
stance at the Lord's will ? — not only with our super- 
fluities, or the refuse of what we possess, but with that 
which seems to be necessary to us ? Do we desire to 
sit loose to our earthly comforts, and to restrain that 
inordinate concupiscence within," which in the sight 
of God is " idolatry ? " ^ Are we enabled to check 
our natural discontent with the Lord's dealings with 
us, and our eagerness to " seek gTeat things for our- 
selves," when he hath said — "Seek them not ? " ^ 
What the world calls a generous and noble spirit is 
often a cloke for this selfish principle, which will part 
with much, if but the darling object — the idol — be 
retained. There is probably no propensity n?ore 

^ Luke xii. 15. ^ Qqi^ 5. Corap. Eph. v. 5. Job xxxi. 24. 
3 jej-, xlv. 5. 



VERSE 36. 



93 



opposed to the influence of the gospel, or which more 
cripples the soul in ^' going in the path of God's 
commandments.'' How much of the good seed of the 
kingdom, that was springing up with the promise of a 
plentiful harvest, has this weed of rank luxuriance 
" choked, that it has become unfruitful ! " ^ Our 
Lord's parables therefore ^ — his precepts^ — his terms 
of discipleship ^ — his own example of poverty and 
renunciation of this world's comforts ^ — all are directed 
to detect the working, and even to forbid the existence, 
of " covetousness." The sight and love of Christ 
delivered Matthew and Zaccheus from this destructive 
principle ^ and * ' inclined their hearts to the testimonies 
of God." And has not faith still the same power to 
turn the heart from the world, from sin, from self, to 
Christ ? Oh ! let it be exercised in daily contempla- 
tion of Him, and a continual access to God by Him, 
Then shall we learn to rest upon the promise of his 
love 7 and to delight in his testimonies. Earthly cares 
will be cast upon him, and earthly prospects will lose 
their splendour. ^ 

But let us not forget, that the desire, the inclination, 
the principle of covetousness, even if it is not brought 
into active and perceptible motion, is destructive of 
the life of religion, and, unless subdued by grace, is 
most fatal in its efl'ects-— They that will be rich,^ 
fall into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish 

^ Mark iv. 19. — The example of the rich young man, Matt. xix. 
21, 22. — Ananias and Sapphira, Acts v. 1, 2. — Demas, 2 Tim. iv. 10. 
2 Luke xii. 16—21 ; xvi. 14, 19, &c. s M^tt. vi. 25—33. 

4 Matt. xvi. 24; xix. 27—29. Luke xiv. 33. 
5 Matt. viii. 20. ^ ^ Matt. ix. 9. Luke xix. 1—10. 

Heb. xiii. 5. 

5 Luke xii. 15. "A man's life consisteth not in the abundance 
of the things which he possesseth " — illustrated by the parable, 
verses 16 — 21. 

^ Oi 8ov\ojj.€Voi irXovreiu. 1 Tim. vi. 9. The very desire or 
inclination to be rich bears the stamp of a heart seeking to divide 



94 EXPOSITION OF PSALM CXIX. 

and hurtful lusts, which drown men in destruction 
and perdition." Awful warning to professors 1 — The 
love of money is the root of all evil ; which while 
some have coveted after, they have erred from the 
faith, and pierced themselves through with many 
sorrows." i A most important exhortation to the peo- 
ple of God ! — but thou, O man of God, flee these 
things, and follow after righteousness." ^ If the Lord 
loves you, he will not indeed lose you ; but unless 
you take heed and beware of covetousness," he will 
not spare you. In the midst therefore, of temptation 
without, and a world of sin within, go on your pilgTi- 
mage to heaven, with this prayer indelibly fixed on 
your heart — Incline my heart unto thy testimonies ^ 
and not to covetousness,^^ 

37. Turn away mine eyes from beholding vanity ; and 
quicken thou me in thy way. 

How hard, nay — how impossible — is it, without 
the continued exercise of watchfulness and prayer, to 
detain the heart in the service and ways of God ! 
Naturally inclined to evil, and hankering after for- 
bidden paths, a thousand vanities steal it away in a 
moment, and every object around furnishes fuel for 
temptation. ^Vhat need have we then to cry to God 
our Saviour all the way to heaven — " Turn away mine 
eyes from beholding vanity I " Vanity is sin, because 
it " is not of the Father, but of the world ; " ^ and it 
includes all that is in the world, the lust of the 
flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life." 

its services between God and Mammon, and therefore unfaithful to 
him, who by just right claims the supreme — undisputed whole— 
My son, give me thine heart/' 

1 1 Tim. vi. 10. - Ibid. 11. » 1 John ii. 16. 



VERSE 37. 95 

Detail is unnecessary in reckoning all the sum of 
vanity, or in enlarging on any particular items. The 
preacher, the son of David, has done it for us ; stand- 
ing on the vantage ground, and taking within his 
view the furthest horizon of earthly excellency, he 
pronounces his judgment— Vanity of vanities, saith 
the preacher, vanity of vanities : all is vanity. " i 
That many a promising profession has been blasted 
by the choking lusts of other things,'' we have just 
had occasion to mention ; and that many a sincere pro- 
fession has been exposed to hurt by the same deadly 
influence, is evident from the solemn caution given 
by Christ to his own disciples—^' Take heed to your- 
selves, lest at any time your hearts be overcharged with 
surfeiting and drunkenness, and the cares of this life ; 
and so that day come upon you unawares/' 2 gome 
indeed seem to walk as if they were proof a2:ainst 
temptation. They venture to the very edge of the 
precipice, under a vain assurance that no danger is 
to be apprehended. But such a confidence is\pon 
the brink of a grievous fall. 3 The tender-hearted 
child of God, like David, while he trusts in the 
promise, that - Sin shall not have dominion over 
him," 4 knows that he can only enjoy the comfort of 
It, or live in the assurance of it, while he is shrinking 
fi^m every thing that is likely to hurt and endanger 
him. He hates even the garment spotted by the 
flesh." 5 and, remembering how often his outward 
senses have ministered to the workings of his weak and 
treacherous heart,^ he prays with fervency and with 
perseverance-'^ Turn away mine eyes from beholding 
vanity:' Probably David might feel, that he had 

\ Eccl. i. 2 ; also ii. 1-12. 2 L^ke xxi. 34. 

^ PrOY. XVI. 18. 4 Rojn 5 j^jie ^3. 

^ See Numb. xv. 39. Joshua vii. 21. 



96 EXPOSITION OF PSALM CXIX. 

especial need for this prayer, from the recollection 
of the circumstances of his own sin.i Yet none that 
know that they carry about with them a heart prone 
to wander from God, will find this prayer unsuitable 
to their circumstances of daily temptation. But we 
must watch as well as pray. For as watchfulness 
without prayer is presumption, so prayer without 
watchfulness is self-delusion. To pray that " our 
eyes'' may be " turned from vanity,'" without " mak- 
ing a covenant with our eyes," ^ that they should not 
behold it; is like taking fire in our bosoms," and 
expecting ''not to be burnt, "^ because we have 
prayed that we might not be burnt. If we desire 
not to be " led into temptation," we must ''watch 
that we enter not into it."^ Unless we wish to be 
ensnared, we must keep at a proper distance from 
the danger. The sincerity of our prayer— " Lead us 
not into temptation "—will be proved by the watch- 
fulness of our conduct in avoiding the circumstances 
and occasions of temptation. So also the fear of sin 
will manifest itself by a fear of temptation to sin. 
" The knife will be put to the throat, if we be given 
to appetite. " ^ We shall be afraid of the wine 
sparkling in the glass.^^ Who has not found the eye 
an inlet to sin ? When Eve beheld the forbidden 
fruit, perhaps she did not think of taking it ; and 
when she took it, did not think of eating it : but " the 
beginning of" sin "is as the letting out of water," 
whose progress once opened may beat down all before 
it.' When Bunyan's pilgTims were obliged to pass 
through Vanity Fair, assailed by temptations and 
allurements on every side, they, stopped their eyes and 

1 2 Sam. xi. 2. ^ Job xxxi. 1. ^ Prov. vi. 27, 28. 

4 Comp. Matt. vi. 10 ; with xxvi. 41. ^ Prov. xxiii. 2. 
6 Verses 31, 32. ' Gen. iii. 6, with Prov, xvu. 14. 



VERSE 37. 97 
ears, and, quickening their pace, cried— Turn away 
mine eyes from beholding vanity:' A striking re- 
proof to us, who too often loiter and gaze, until we 
begin to covet those vanities, to which, as Christians, 
we are dead.'' i 

Is it asked— What will most effectually turn my 
eyes from vanity ? Xot the seclusion of contem- 
plative retirement — not the relinquishment of our 
lawful connexion with the world— but the transcendent 
beauty of Jesus unveiled to our eyes, and fixing our 
hearts. Thus " may our eyes be turned from vanity '' 
in the midst of its most glittering forms. The sight 
of the pearl of gTeat price" 2 dims the lustre of the 
goodliest pearls " of earth. While, therefore, we 
are diligently seeking the preventing grace of God to 
keep us from evil, and his quickening grace to urge 
us fomard in a steady, active, habitual progress ; 
specially let the eye and the heart be kept looking 
to Jesus.'' Then will the world, with all its flowery 
paths of vanity, appear a dreaiy wilderness, and Christ 
and heaven the only objects of desire— He that 
shutteth his eyes from seeing evil, he shall dwell on 
high : his place of defence shall be the munitions of 
rocks : bread shall be given him, his water shall be 
sure. Thine eyes shall see the King in his beauty : 

they shall behold the land that is very far off:' 3 

Precious promises to those that flee from temptation, 
and desire to walk in the ways of God ! 

^ See Col. iii. 2, 3. 2 lyj^tt. xiii. 46. 

^ Isaiah xxxiii. 15—17. 



F 



98 EXPOSITION OF PSALM CXIX. 



38. Stablish thy word unto thy servant, who is devoted 

to thy fear. 

If the fear of the Lord is the beginning of 
wisdom/' 1 a treasure," ^ a strong confidence/' ^ 
and a fountain of life ; " ^ how wise, how rich, 
how safe, how happy is he that *^is devoted to'' it. 
Blessed indeed is he with every spiritual blessing— 
with the favour of his God,^ the secret manifestations 
of his love,6 the teaching of his grace,7 and the mercy 
of his covenant. 8 This principle, so far from being 
the spirit of bondage, flows into the heart from a sense 
of forgiveness—'' There is forgiveness with thee, that 
thou may est be feared:' 9 It is also invigorated by 
an interest in gospel privileges ; for *' receiving a 
kingdom which cannot be moved," we are exhorted 
to seek for ''grace whereby we may serve God ac- 
ceptably, with reverence and godly fear/'^^ It also 
completes the character of a " servant of God— devoted 
to his fear'' in an obedience of choice, of reverence, 
and of love; "joining himself to the Lord to serve 
him, and to love the name of the Lord, to be his 
servant." ' Yes, gracious Lord, I had rather be 
bound than loosed, I only wished to be loosed from 
the bonds of sin, that I might be bound to thy service 
for ever. My heart is treacherous, and I care not 
what bonds are laid on me. "O Lord, truly I am 
thy servant, thou hast loosed my bonds : " I am 
- devoted to thy fear." ' Is this my desire, my mind, 
my determination, my character ? Then let me come 

1 Psalm cxi. 10. ^ js^. xxxiii. 6. ^ prov. xiv. 26. 
4 Frov xiv. 27. ^ Psalm xxxiii. 18. ^ ibid. xxv. 14. 

7 Ibid. 12. ^ Ibid. ciii. 17. 

9 Ibid. cxxx. 4. Compare Jer. xxxiii. 8, 9. Hos. m. 5. 

10 Heb. xii. 28. " Isa. Ivi. 6. Psalracxvi. 16. 



VERSE 38. 99 
and plead my title to an interest in the promises of the 
word-rich and free, "exceeding gi-eat and precious "i 
—all mine—" yea and amen in Christ Jesus • " 2 let 
me plead at the throne of grace, that every word may 
be -stahlishedr in my victory over sin, advancing 
knowledge of Christ, experience of his love, conformity 
to his image, and finally in my preservation in him 
unto eternal life. But I must inquire, how far has 
the fear of God operated with me as a safeguard 
trom sm, 3 and an habitual rule of conduct ? * I 
observe that David's confidence in the promises of 
(.od, far from lessening his jealousy over himself, 
only made him more " devoted to the fear " of God 
And if my assurance be well-grounded, it will be ever 
accompanied with holy fear ; so that my progress may 
be known by my " standing more in awe of God's 
wora ; having a more steady abhorrence of sin, 
and a dread of grieving the holy Spirit of God." 
Ihus this hhal fear produces a holy confidence; while 
c<«ifidence serves to strengthen fear; and their mutual 
influence quickens our devotedness to the work of the 

It is interesting to remark the Christian privilege 
of assurance as not confined to the New Testament 

of hs God stabhshed unto hhn," ^ he settles himself 
upon he tried grounds of faith. And this direct act 

Itl " "'"'^ "^'^ engagements, 

and his promises, cannot be too confident. The pro 
mises are made to the whole church, that we might 

^ 2 Peter i. 4. 2 o n • 

confidence will afterwards be noticed v'erfe 411°" °' ^""^ 

F 2 



100 EXPOSITION OF PSALM CXIX. 

each look for our part and interest in them. And 
much of the power and comfort of faith is realized m 
the personal application of them to our individual 
cases, and brinaing them before the throne of grace 
as the subject matter and arguments of our pleadmg. 
The plea here employed is familiar with the believer's 
experience—" Stablish thy word unto " thy servant: 
Thou hast bought me with a precious price : thou 
hast made me thine : thou hast subdued my heart 
to thvself, so that it is now " devoted to thy fear. ' 
Whatsoever, therefore, thy covenant has provided for 
mv sanctification, my humiliation, my chastisement, 
my present and everlasting consolation—" Stablish 
this wotd ; " let it be fulfilled in me, for I am " thy 
servant, devoted to thy fear." 

39. Turn away my reproach which I fear ; for thy 
judgments are good. 

There is a reproach that we have no cause to fear, 
but rather to glory in ; that which is stamped by our 
Lord as one of the chief privileges of his gospel,^ and 
which his faithful people have ever reposed in as the 
badge of their profession."- But the "reproach ot 
brin<xin^ dishonour upon the name of his God— David 
had'catise to "/ear;"* and the removal of it was 
with him a subject of the deepest anxiety and the most 

I Matt. V. 10-12. Comp. Phil. i. 29. 
^ Acts V. 41 ; zxiv. 5 ; xsviii. 22. Heb. «u. 13. 1 Peter n 

^ Sam xii. 14 The same deprecation of "reproach " appears 
to htve Been s rongly felt by Saul-" I have sinned ; yet honour^ 
me nm I pray thee, before the elders of my people, and befo.e 
ra"l 1 Sam. xv. 30.) But how different the principle m hese 
t;.n instances under a similar trial. The one tremblingly alne 
th^t h name of God might not be reproached through his shameful 
M The other earnest only to secure his o'.-n reputation. 



VERSE 39. 101 

importunate prayer. The fear of this reproach is 
doubtless felt by the most established believers, while 
it is overruled for his habitual dependance upon an 
almighty upholding power. " Hold thou me up, 
and I shall be safe i— will be the constant suppli- 
cation of one that fears the Lord, and fears himself. 
Professors of religion do not perhaps sufficiently con- 
sider that the enemies of the gospel are ever watching 
for their halting ; 2 else why among many of them 
this remissness in removing all occasions of reproach 
oa account of inconsistency of temper or conversa- 
tion ? None therefore, that feel their own weakness, 
the continual apprehension of danger, the tendency of 
their heart to backslide from God, and to disgrace 

that worthy name by which they are called," 3 
think this prayer unseasonable or unnecessary—'' Turn 
away mij reproach ivhich I fear/' Perhaps also those 
who have been exposed in spiritual conflicts, to '' the 
fiery darts of the wicked one,'' may find this a suit- 
able prayer in such seasons of trial. Sometimes v/hen 
Satan has succeeded in beguiling a child of God — 
when he has drawn him into some worldly compliance, 
or weakened his confidence, by tempting him to look to 
himself for some warrant of acceptance, (in all which 
suggestions he is aided and abetted by his treacherous 
heart) this accuser of the brethren " will then turn 
back upon him, and, changing himself into '' an angel 
of light,'' reproach him with those very falls, into 
which he had successfully led him ; so that frequently 
a long and black catalogue is presented to the harassed 
soul with a view of adding to his distress. Bunyan 
does not to fail to enumerate these reproaches as amongst 
the most harassing assaults of Apollyon. In his 



1 Verse 117. 2 ^x. 10. s james ii. 7. 

F 3 



102 EXPOSITION OF PSALM CXIX. 

desperate conflict with Christian, he taunts him with 
his fall into the Slough of Despond, and every succes- 
sive deviation from his path, as blotting out his warrant 
of present favour with the king, and blasting all hopes 
of reaching the celestial city. Christian is neither able 
nor willing to conceal or palliate the charge. He 
knows it is all true, and much more besides ; but 
he knov/s this is true also—'' Where sin abounded, 
o^race hath much more abounded.'^ The blood of 
Jesus Christ the Son of God cleanseth from all sin." ^ 
Christian ! are you harassed with these fiery darts ? 
Remember the direction, the only direction, that meets 
your case, and provides for your help—'' Above all, 
taking the shield of faith, wherewith you shall be able 
to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked.'' ^ If you 
are conscious of hating the sins with which you have 
been overtaken, and of earnestly longing for deliver- 
ance from their power, — while the recollections of their 
guilt and defilement humble you before the Lord, 
you have only to take fresh hold of the gospel, and 
you shall " overcome by the blood of the Lamb.'' ^ 
Victory must come from the cross. And the soul 
that is directing its eye thither for pardon, strength, 
and consolation, may sigh out the prayer with accept- 
ance — " Turn away my reproach ivhich I fear.'' 

Yet must we not forget, how deeply the guilt of 
apostacy or backsliding is aggravated by the acknow- 
ledgment that all are constrained to make — " Thy 
judgments are good,'' How affecting is the Lord's 
expostulation with us ! — " What iniquity have your 
fathers found in me, that they are gone far from me, 
and have walked after vanity, and are become vain ? 
O my people, what have I done unto thee, and wherein 

^ Rom. V. 20. 1 John i. 7. ' Eph. vi. 16. 

2 Rev. xii. 9—11. 



VERSE 40, 



103 



have I wearied thee ? testify against me. I have not 
caused thee to serve with an offering, nor wearied thee 
with incense/' 1 We have nothing to complain of our 
Master, of his work, or of his wages ; but much, very 
much, to complain of ourselves, of our unwatchfulness, 
neglect, backsliding, and consequent reproach upon our 
profession. 

But whatever allowed backsliding, or inconsistency, 
may at any time have brought us the reproach 
which we fear,'' let us cry with unceasing supplica- 
tion, for the Lord's sake, for the Church's sake, that 
it may be turned away from us.^' Meanwhile, we 
may accept it as the punishment of our iniquity ; " - 
and in the recollection of the goodness of the Lord^s 
judgments,'' we may still venture to hope and look for 
the best things to come out of it, from our good and 
gracious Lord. 

40. Behold, I have longed after thy precepts : quicken 
me in thy righteousness. 

We are sometimes unconsciously led to long '' 
after the promises, more than after the precepts" 
of God ; forgetting that it is our privilege and safety 
to have an equal regard to both— to obey his precepts 
in dependence on his promises, and to expect the 
accomplishment of the promises, in the way of obe- 
dience to the precepts. The utmost extent of the 
service of the mere professor is the heavy yoke of 
outward conformity to the Lord's precepts. He knows 
nothing of the believer's inward delight and longing 
after them'' Of many of them his heart complains — 
" This is a hard saying : who can hear it ? " ^ But is 

^ Jer. ii. 5. Mic. vi. 3. Isa. xliii. 23. ^ L^y^ ^xvi. 41. 

2 John vi. 60. 



104 



EXPOSITION OF PSALM CXIX. 



there not a reason for the believer's deUght even in the 
most difficult and painful precepts ? Are not the 
moments of his deepest repentance, his times of the 
sweetest refreshino- from the presence of the Lord ! ^ 

hatever pleasure there may be in the indulgence of 
a sinful inclination, we cannot doubt that the ultimate 
enjoyment from the mortification of it is far more 
abundant. - What more fruitful source of comfort is 
found than obedience to our Saviour's precept — If 
any man will come after me, let him deny himself, 
and take up his cross daily and follow me/' -^ By 
this wholesome discipline we lose our own perverse 
will ; the power of sin is restrained ; the pride of the 
heart humbled ; and our real happiness fixed upon a 
solid and permanent basis. So that, whatever dis- 
pensation some might be disposed to desire for break- 
ing" the precept without forfeiting the promise, the 
Christian blesses God for the strictness, that binds 
him to a steady obedience to his will. To him it is 
grievous, not to keep it, but to break it. A " longing 
therefore " after the precepts,'' marks the character 
of a child of God ; and may be considered as the 
pulse by which the health — if not the life— of the 
soul may be ascertained. 

There are indeed times, when the violence of temp- 
tation or the paralyzing effect of indolence, hide the 
movements of the hidden man of the heart.'' And 
yet even in these gloomy hours, when the mouth is 
shut and the heart dumb before God — so troubled 

^ Acts iii. 19. Luther says, the practice of repentance vras ever 
sweeter to him, after hearing the expression of an old divine — 
* That is kind repentance, which begins from the love of God.' 

- See David's lively expression of gratitude — first to his God — 
then to the instrument employed by him (Abigail; — in restraining 
him from the gratification of most unjustifiable revenge. — 1 Sara. 
xxY. 32. 33, ^ s Lukeix. i's. 



VERSE 40. 105 

tbat it cannot speak " ^—acceptable incense is ascend- 
ing before the throne of God. We have a powerful 
Intercessor helping our infirmities ''-—interpreting our 
desires -and crying from within, with groanings that 
cannot be uttered ; 2 yet such as, being indited by 
our Advocate within, and presented by our Advocate 
above,3 are most consoling earnests of their fulfilment. 

He will fulfil the desire of them that fear him : he 
also will hear their cr^- and will save them.'' ^ 

Let the child of God then be encouraged to besieoe 
the mercy-seat with incessant importunity ; ^ and if he 
cannot conceal from himself the coldness and weakness 
of his spiritual affections, at least let him not be content 
with idle confessions and heartless complainings. Let 
him bewail his own deadness before God. Let him 
WTestle with God for a real desire— a longing desire. 
' " Quicken me in thy righteousness,'' I plead thy 
righteousness— thy righteous promise for the reviving 
of my spiritual life. I long for more lively appre- 
hensions of thy spotless righteousness. Oh ! let it 
invigorate my delight, my obedience, my secret com- 
munion, my Christian walk and conversation.' Such 
longings poured out before the Lord, and accom- 
panied with humble and earnest supplications for a 
fresh supply of quickening grace, are far different 
from the desire of the slothful, which killeth him,"t' 
and will not be forgotten before God. Delight 
thyself in the Lord ; and he shall give thee the desires 
of thine heart." T Q for a more enlarged expectation, 
and for a more abundant supply ! 

But it may be asked— What weariness in, and 

I Psalm Ixxvii. 4. " 2 Rom.viii.26. 

Heb. IX. 24, Rev. viii. 3, 4. 4 ps^im cxlv. 18. 

^ Matt. XI. 12. _ 6 Pj-o^. 33^ 
' Psalm xxxvii. 4. 



106 EXPOSITION OF PSALM CXIX. 

reluctancy to, duties is consistent with the principle 
and exercise of gi'ace ? Where it is only in the mem- 
bers, not in the mind— where it is only partial, not 
prevalent — where it is only occasional, not habitual — 
where it is lamented and resisted, and not allowed — 
and where in spite of its influence the Christian still 
holds on the way of duty — grace reigns in the midst 
of conflict, and will ultimately and gloriously triumph 
over all hindrance and opposition. But in the midst 
of the humbling views of sin that present themselves 
on every side, let me diligently inquire — Have I an 
habitual hungering and thirsting after righteous- 
ness?'' And since, at the best, I do but get my 
longings' increased, and not satisfied ; let heaven be 
much in my heart, where alone I shall be fully satis- 
fied. As for me, I will behold thy face in righte- 
ousness ; I shall be satisfied, when I awake with thy 
likeness.'' 1 



- Psalm xvii. 15. 



VERSE 41. 



107 



PABT VI. 

41. Let thy mercies come also unto me, O Lord ; even 
thy salvation, according to thy word. 

A PRAYER at all times suitable for a sinner, who 
needs mercy every moment, and lias been taught to 
look for it only in the Lord's salvation.'' Out 
of Christ we know only a God of justice and holi- 
ness. In Christ we behold a just God, and yet 
a Saviour ; i and in his salvation, which is nigh 
them that fear him, mercy and truth are met together ; 
righteousness and peace have kissed each other.'' ^ 
Therefore general notions of the mercy of God with- 
out a distinct apprehension of his salvation," can 
never be a warrant of faith to a sinner ; and can only 
have their origin in presumption, such as God abhors. 
Can there be any communication of mercy from an 
unknown God ? Can there be any intercourse with 
an angry God ? Acquaint thyself now with him, 
and be at peace ; thereby good shall come unto thee ^' ^ 
— The Lord's mercies, even his salvation," This 
prayer, however, is peculiarly suitable to the believer, 
longing to realize that which sometimes 'through 
manifold temptations " is clouded to his view— his 
personal and individual interest in the Lord's salva- 
tion. — Let thy mercies come also unto me," The 
experience of the Lord's people furnishes a powerful 
plea in prayer—'^ Look thou upon me, and be merci- 
ful unto me, as thou usest to do unto those that love 

i Isa. xlv,2l. 2 Psalm Ixxxv. 9, 10, Comp. Rom. iii. 26, 
3 Job xxii> 21. 



108 EXPOSITION OF PSALM CXIX. 

thy name. Remember me, O Lord, with the favour 
that thou bearest to thy people ; O visit me with thy 
salvation ; that I may see the felicity of thy chosen, 
that I may rejoice in the gladness of thy nation, that 
I may glory with thine inheritance." ^ Are we seeking 
the assurance of this salvation in prayer? Are we 
waiting for the present power of it, saving us from sin 
— Satan— the world— ourselves, and " blessing us with 
all spiritual blessings in Christ Jesus?" Should a 
trial of faith and patience be ordained for us, yet 
in the end we shall doubtless find, that God by these 
dispensations with us has been secretly storing us 
with experience, which will be a rich treasury to 
us throughout our pilgrimage. That he has kept us 
from turning our backs upon his ways, when we had 
no comfort in them, that he has upheld us with secret 
supplies of strength— what is this, but the working 
of his own Spirit within, and the pledge that the work 
shall advance to perfection ? That he has enabled us, 
against all discouragements, to " continue instant in 
prayer," is surely an answer to that prayer, which in 
our apprehensions of it had been cast out. That in 
the exercise of waiting upon him, we have been rest- 
less in the possession of worldly consolation, is an 
assurance, that the Lord himself will be our soul- 
satisfying and eternal portion. And who is there now 
in the sensible enjoyment of his love, who does not 
bless that Divine wisdom, which took the same course 
with them that has been taken with us to bring them 
to these joys ? When did a weeping seed-time fail 
of bringing a joyful harvest ? ^ 

But let not the word of promise be forgotten— 
" According to thy w;or6/,"-~that it shall come fully— 



1 Verse 132. Psalm cvi. 4, 5. 



2 Ibid, cxxvi. 5, 6. 



VERSE 42. 109 

freely — eternally — to him that waiteth for it. ^'Thou 
meetest him that rejoiceth and worketh righteousness ; 
those that remember thee in thy ways." ^ The same 
desire of earnestness and faith will ag^ain come before 
us — "My soul faint eth for thy salvation; hut I hope 
in thy word.'' - Many indeed are satisfied with attain- 
ments far too low in spiritual enjoyments. It is com- 
fortless to live at a distance from our Father's house, 
when we might be dwelling in the secret of his presence, 
and rejoicing in the smiles of his love. 

But sometimes, alas ! days, weeks, and even months, 
pass by without any heart-searching inquiries as to the 
reasons of this deprivation. Let us not charge this dull 
and dishonourable state of mind upon the sovereignty 
of the Divine dispensations. Let us rather trace it 
to its true source — want of desire — want of faith — 
want of prayer— want of diligence. Let us be excited 
to a sense of our need of Divine influence. Let us 
be encouraged by the recollection, that earnest prayer 
will bring a sure answer : if not in the immediate 
fulfilment of our desires, at least in their enlargement. 
And how can our desires be too large after the 
mercies of God's salvation? 

42. So shall I have ivherewith to answer him that 
reproacheth me : for I trust in thy word. 

What is the salvation which he had just been 
speaking of ? The whole gift of the mercy of God — 
redemption from sin, death, and hell— pardon, peace, 
and acceptance with a reconciled God— constant com- 
munication of spiritual blessings -all that God can 
give or we can want— all that we are able to receive 



^ Isaiah ixiv. 5. 



2 Verse 81. 



110 EXPOSITION OF PSALM CXIX. 

here, or heaven can perfect hereafter. Now if this 
comes to us — comes to our hearts — surely it will 
furnish us at all times with an answer to him that 
reproacheth us,'' Do the world cast upon us the 
reproach of the cross? We find it our happiness not 
to live without the cross ; and we can testify that 
there are no comforts like Christ^s comforts, even in 
the midst of tribulation. And yet, when, in a time 
of spiritual desertion, Satan's temptations or the re- 
proach of the ungodly assault the soul, the trial is 
very severe ; and the believer, destitute of sensible 
support, cannot always exercise faith in him that 
hideth himself ; i and therefore is unprepared with 
an answer to him that reproacheth him/' Such 
appeared to be Job's condition,^ and Heman's,^ and 
that of many of the Lord's most favoured people, at 
different stages of their experience. And how should 
this teach us to pray for a realizing sense of the Lord's 
mercies, even of his salvation," not only as necessary 
to our peace and comfort, but as furnishing a powerful 
and sufficient answer to him that reproacheth,'^ 
When we have a personal interest in it, and in him 
who is the All in All of it, we have the witness in 
ourselves." ^ We are garrisoned against every assault 
from without, and can throw down the challenge— 
Rejoice not against me, O mine enemy ; when I fall, 
I shall arise ; when I sit in darkness, the Lord shall 
be a light unto me."^ Such was David's answer," 
when the divisions of his family were probably an 
occasion of reproach — Although my house be not 
so with God, yet he hath made with me an everlasting 
covenant, ordered in all things and sure ; for this is 
all my salvoAion and all my desire,''^ The ground 

^ Isa. xlv. 15. 2 y\ yii^ 3 Psalm Ixxxviii. 

^ 1 John V. 10. ^ Micah vii. 8. ^ 2 Sam. xxiii. 5. 



VERSE 42. Ill 

of this confidence is trust in the word of God," 
not one jot or tittle of which can ever fall to the 
ground." In this confidence, upon the conviction 
of an enlightened judgment, we may ''be ready 
always to give an answer to every one that asketh us 
a reason of the hope that is in us, with meekness and 
fear." ^ '' Xo weapon that is formed against thee shall 
prosper; and every tongue that riseth against thee in 
judgment, thou shalt condemn. This is the heritage 
of the servants of the Lord, and their righteousness is 
of me, saith the Lord." ^ 

Oh ! do we not often fail in Christian boldness by 
the weakness of our apprehensions of the salvation 
of God ? Clear and full evangelical views are indis- 
pensable to the enlivening exercises of our Christian 
obligations. Any indistinctness here, from its neces- 
sary mixture of self-righteousness and unbelief, obscures 
the warrant of our personal interest, and therefore 
hinders that firm grasp of the promise which realizes 
the needful supplies of Divine strength. Much cause 
therefore have we to pray for a spiritual perception 
of the gospel in its freeness and fulness, in its feeauty 
and loveliness, as well as in its holy and heaveiiiy 
enjoyments. Much need have we to use our speedy 
diligence, without delay — our painful diligence, with- 
out induloence — our continual dilio:ence without weari- 
ness— that we be not satisfied with remaining on the 
skirts of the kingdom ; that it be not a matter of doubt 
whether we belong to it or not ; but that, grace being 
added to grace, ''so an entrance may be ministered to 
us abundantly into"^ all its rich consolations and 
everlasting joys. 



1 1 Peter iii. 15. 



2 Isa. liv. 17. 3 2 Peter i. 5—11. 



112 



EXPOSITION OF PSALM CXIX. 



43. And take not the word of truth utterly out of my 
mouth ; for I have hoped in thy judgments. 

For the sake of the Church and the world, not less 
than for our own sakes, let us give diligence to clear 
up our interest in the Gospel, that the joy of the 
Lord may be our strength" in his service. The want 
of personal assurance not only brings a loss in our 
own experience, but a hindrance to usefulness within 
our appointed sphere. Hence our efforts are often 
powerless in parrying off the attack of him that 
reproaches us ; and our attempts to strengthen the 
weak hands and confirm the feeble knees " ^ of our 
brethren unavailing. Sometimes in this state of per- 
plexity we are afraid to speak for the Saviour, lest we 
should incur the charge of hypocrisy. At other times 
we are ashamed to speak, from the absence of that 
only constraining principle — ''the love of Christ." 2 
And thus " the word of truth is taken out of our 
mouths. Often have we wanted a word to speak 
for the relief of the Lord's tempted people, and have 
not been able to find it ; so that the recollection of 
precious lost opportunities may well give utterance 
to the prayer—*' Take not the word of truth utterly 
out of my mouth." Not only take it out of my 
heart; but let it be ready in my mouth for a con- 
fession of my Master. Some of us have known the 
painful trial of the indulgence of worldly habits and 
conversation, when a want of liberty of spirit has 
hindered us from standing up boldly for our God. 
We may perhaps allege the plea of bashfulness or 
judicious caution in excuse for silence ; which how- 



Isa. XXXV. 3. 



2 2 Cor. V. 14. 



VERSE 43. 



113 



ever, in many instances, we must regard as a self- 
deceptive covering for the real cause of restraint — 
the want of apprehension of the mercy of God to the 
soul. All thy works shall praise thee, O Lord ; 
and thy saints shall bless thee. They shall speak 
of the glory of thy kingdom, and talk of thy power ; 
to make known to the sons of men his mighty acts, 
and the glorious majesty of his kingdom." ^ Wisdom 
is indeed required to know when, as well as what, to 
speak. There is a time to keep silence, as well as a 
time to speak ; " ^ and " the prudent shall keep silence 
in that time." ^ But it will be always well to examine, 
whether it is our cross to be " dumb with silence " — 
whether, when we hold our peace even from good, 
our sorrow is stirred," and our heart hot within us, 
and the fire burning." ^ Oh ! let not the word 
of truth be taken utterly out of our mouth." If we 
cannot say all we want of our Saviour, let us say all 
we can. A word spoken in weakness may be a word 
of Almighty power, and a present help to one of the 
Lord's little ones." And in our connexions with 
the world, many occasions will unexpectedly offer, 
when the heart is wakeful and active to improve them. 
The common topics of earthly conversation may furnish 
a channel for heavenly intercourse ; so that our com- 
munications even with the world may be like Jacob's 
ladder, " whose bottom rested upon the earth, but the 
top reached unto the heavens." ^ And oh ! what a 

1 Psalm cxlv. 10 — 13. ^ Eccles. iii. 7. 

3 ^jnos V. 13. 4 Psalm xxxix. 2, 3. 

^ Gen. xxviii. 12. " WTiy do I make any of my visits to any 
of my neighbours, or countenance their visits unto me ? Lord, I 
desire to let fall something, that may be for the good of the com- 
pany; even, that more may be known of thee, and done for thee, 
from what passes in it. And when I propose to ingratiate myself 
unto any people by the civilities of conversation, it^shall be, that 
I may gain thereby the better advantages to prosecute purposes 



114 EXPOSITION OF PSALM CXIX. 

relief is it to the burdened conscience , if but a few- 
words can be stammered out for God, even though 
there are no sensible refreshings of his presence upon 
the soul. But to give power and acceptance to our 
word, it must be ^' spoken out of the abundance of the 
heart." ^ And when the heart is inditing a good 
matter, speaking of the things touching the king, our 
tongue will be the pen of a ready writer." - This 
prayer is the same confidence of faith that was ex- 
pressed in the preceding verse — " For I have hoped in 
thy judgments " — an acceptable spirit of approach to 
God, and an earnest of the revival of life and comfort 
in the Lord's best time and way. 

The Lord sometimes punishes the unfaithfulness 
of his people, in neglecting to use the spiritual 
weapon of his word, b}^ " taking it out of their 
mouth^^ when they most need it. Let us then hide 
it in our hearts." Let it dwell in us richly in all 
wisdom," 2 that it may be ready for every circumstance 
of emergency. 

44. So shall I keep thy laic continually , for ever mid 

ever. 

The heaping up of so many words in this short 
verse, appears to be the struggle of the soul to give 
something like an adequate expression of the vehemency 
of its longings to glorify its Saviour. And indeed the 
Lord^s return to us, unsealing the lips of the dumb, 
and putting his word again into our mouth, brings 
with it a fresh sense of constraining obligation. A 

upon them. In conversation, I would especially lay hold on all 
advantages to introduce as much as I can of a lovely Christ into 
the view of all that I come near unto/ Cotton Mather, Student 
and Pastor, pp. 74, 75. 

1 Matt. xii. 34. - Psalm xlv. 1, 2. 2 Col. iii, 16. 



VERSE 44. 



115 



new prospect is opened of employment in his praise 
and service ; not only as our present privilege, but as 
an antepast of our heavenly employment, when the 
word will never more " be taken out of our mouth ; 
but we shall be able to talk of his wondrous works, 
and to " keep his law for ever and ever,^^ The defects 
in the constancy and extent of our obedience (as far 
as our hearts are alive to the honour of God,) must 
ever be our grief and burden ; and the prospect of its 
completeness in a better world, is that which renders 
the anticipation of heaven so delightful. There we 
shall be blest with suitable feelings, and therefore be 
enabled to render suitable obedience — even one un- 
broken consecration of all our powers to his work. 
Then shall we keep his law continually for ever and 
ever.'^ When once we have found admittance before 
the throne of God, we shall serve him day and night 
in his temple,'^ ^ — without sin^ — without inconstancy— 
without weariness, — without end ! We speak of hea- 
ven ; but oh ! to be there ! To be engaged throughout 
eternity in the service of love to a God of love ! In 
one day's continuance in the path of obedience even 
here, in the midst of the defilement which stains our 
holiest services, how sweetly do the minutes roll away ! 
But to be for ever employed for him, in that place 
where there shall in no wise enter any thing that 
defileth " ^ — this gives an emphasis and a dignity to 
the heavenly joy, which may well stamp it as ^'un- 
speakable and full of glory. * May we not then 
encourage the hope, that the Lord is making us meet 
for heaven, by the strength and constancy of our 
desires to " keep the law of God ? '' And is it not 
evident, that heaven itself can afford no real delight 

1 Verse 27. Rev. vii. 15. 

3 Rev. xxi. 27. ^ 1 Peter i. 8. 



116 



EXPOSITION OF PSALM CXIX. 



to one, who feels the service of God on earth to be 
irksome ? He stands self-excluded by the constitu- 
tion of his nature, by the necessity of the case. He 
has no heart for heaTen. no taste for heaven, no capa- 
city for the enjoyment of heaven — He that is unjust, 
let him be unjust still ; and he that is lilthy, let him 
be filthy still ; and he that is righteous, let him be 
righteous still ; and he that is holy, let him be holy 
still.** 1 

Heavenly, gracious Father, who and what are we, 
that our hearts should be made the unworthy recipients 
of thy gTace ? that our wills should be subdued into 

the obedience of faith ? " and that we should be 
permitted to anticipate the blessed period, when we 
shall " keep thy law continually for ever and ever ? 
May this prospect realize the happiness of our present 
obedience ! May he, who has bought us with a 
price *' for his glory, reign in our hearts, and live 
upon our lips ; that each of us may have his mark 
upon our foreheads — the seal of his property in us, 
and of our obligation to him — Whose I am, and 
whom I serve.*' - 

45. And I will walk at liberty ; for I seek thy 
precepts. 

It was a fine expression of a heathen, ^ To serve 
God is to reign : ' ^ and certainly David appears to have 
found the liberty of a king in linking his affections 

^ Rev. xxii. II. - Acts xxvii. 23. 

2 ' In regno vivimus. Deo servare est regnare,' — Seneca. 
When the female martyr Agatha was upbraided, because, being 
descended of an illustrious parentage, she stooped to mean and 
humble offices — 'Oar nobility* — she replied — Mies in this; that 
we are the servants of Christ.' Bp. Sumner's Evidences, pp. 359, 
360. 



VERSE 45. 117 

to the service of God. The precepts of God were not 
forced upon him ; for he sought them, as the source 
of continual enjoyment. Hear what he says of them— 
" More to be desired are they than gold, yea, than 
much find gold ; sweeter also than honey, and the 
honey-comb. Moreover by them is thy servant warned ; 
and in keeping of them there is great reward." ^ The 
way of the Lord, which to the carnal view is beset 
with thorns and briars on every side, to the child of 
God is a way of liberty. ^Tithout fear or anxiety, 
in the gladness of his heart and the rejoicing of his 
conscience, he walks on the king's highway. Even 
in seeking these precepts, there is liberty to be en- 
joyed, unknown to the worldling, the sensualist, or 
the professor ; an enlargement of heart, a natural 
motion, like that of the sun in his course, 'Agoing 
forth as a bridegroom, and rejoicing as a strong man 
to win a race.'' - What must it be, then, to walk in 
the full enjoyment of the precepts of God ? They 
shall sing in the ways of the Lord " for how gTeat 
is his goodness ! how great is his beauty ! " ^ Are 
we then obeying them as our duty, or seeking them 
as our privilege ? Oh ! beware, lest allowed un- 
faithfulness in any part of your walk with God, 
straiten and cripple your soul. The glow of spiritual 
activity, and the healthfulness of Christian liberty, 
are only to be foimd in a persevering and self-denying 
pursuit of every track of the ways of God. If ye 
continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed ; 
and ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make 
you free. If the Son therefore shall make you free, 
ye shall be free indeed." ^ To have the whole stream 
of all our thoughts, actions, motives, desires, affections, 

1 Psalm xix. 10, 11. - Ibid.xix. 5. ^ ibid, cxxxviii. 5. 
Zech. ix. 17. ^ John viii. 31, 32, 36. 



118 EXPOSITION OF PSALM CXIX. 

carried in one undivided current towards God, is 
indeed most delightful evidence of the complete and 
unrestrained influence of love upon our hearts. — 
There will often be considerable difficulty in sup- 
pressing the corrupt and rebellious inclinations of the 
natural mind ; but as long as indulgence is denied, 
conflict excited, and resistance maintained in the 
constant endeavour to " bring every thought into 
captivity to the obedience of Christ/' i —our liberty 
is established, even where it is not always enjoyed. 
Every fresh chain by which we bind ourselves to the 
Lord, makes us feel more free. 2 ^Yhile, then, they 
that promise us liberty are themselves the servants 
of corruption," 3 Q let us live as the children of God 
—the heirs of the kingdom— grateful— free— blood- 
bought souls— remembering the infinite cost at which 
our liberty was purchased, and the moment of infinite 
peril when we were saved. When the flesh was weak, 
and " the lav>^ weak through the flesh,'' ^ and no 
-resolutions that we could make or perform, could 
extricate us from the yoke of sin— then it was that 
Christ both died, and rose, and revived, that he 
might be Lord both of the dead and livino." 5 ^j^j 
then indeed do we " walk at liberty'' in the way of 
his precepts," when we break the bands " of all other 
lords " asunder," and consecrate ourselves entirely to 
his service. Lord our God,_ other lords beside 
thee have had dominion over us; but by thee only will 
we make mention of thy name'' ^ 

^ 2 Cor. X. 5. 

- Jugum ^Christi non deterit, sed honestat colla. Bernard. 
3 2 Pet. ii. 19. Compare John viii. 34. ^ Rom. y'iu. 3. 
^ Ibid. xiv. 9. 

^ Isa. xxvi. 13. An incident in the history of ancient Rome 
may furnish an illustration of that full liberty and entireness of 
heart, which forms the act of acceptable surrender to the Lord. 
When the people of Collatia were negociating an unconditional 



VERSE 46, 



119 



46. / icill speak of thy testimonies also before kings, 
and will not he ashamed. 

Liberty in walking in the Lord's ways will natur- 
ally produce boldness in speaking of them. Compare 
the conduct of the three unshaken witnesses of the 
truth before the Babylonish monarch, ^ Mark the 
diiference of the spirit displayed by the Apostles^ 
and especially by Peter, before and after the day 
of Pentecost.- Look at Stephen before the council,^ 
and Paul before Felix, ^ Festus, ^ and AgTippa. ^ 

God had not given to them the spirit of fear; but 
of power, and of love, and of a sound mind." 7 In 
this spirit we find the great Apostle testifying of him- 
self — I am ready to preach the Gospel to you that 
are at Rome also,'' — at the metropolis of the vforld, in 
the face of all opposition and contempt, and at the 
imminent hazard of my life — For," says he, I am 
not ashamed of the Gospel of Christ, ® In the same 
determination of soul, he exhorts his dear son in the 
faith — " Be not thou ashamed, of the testimony of the 

capitulation to the Romans, Egerius, on the part of the Romans, 
inquired of the ambassaciors-^ — ' Are the people of CoUatia in their 
own power ?' \Yhen an affirmative answer was given, it was next 
inquired — ' Do you deliver up 3'ourselves — the people of CoUatia — 
your city, your fields, your waters, your boundaries, your temples, 
your utensils, all your property, divine and human, into my power 
and the power of the E.oman people?' ' We surrender all.' ' And 
so,' said he, ' I accept you.' — Livy, Book i. Such may my surrender 
be to the Lord. Disentangled from every other yoke, under no bonds, 
that ought to bind me, Lord, I offer myself, and all that belongs to 
me, vsithoQt exception or reserve, at thy feet. But who am I, 
that I should be able to offer so willing after this sort ? For all things 
come of thee, and of thine own have J given thee." 1 Chron. 
xix. 14. I Dan. iii. 16—18. 

" Contrast Matt. xxvL 56, 69, '/o, with Acts ii. iii. iv. v. We can 
scarcely believe that the same persons are alluded to. But the expla- 
nation of the difficulty had been given by anticipation. John vii. 39. 

^ Acts vi. vii. 4 Ibid. xxiv. ^ Ibid. xxv. 

^ Ibid. xxvi. 7 2 Tim. i. 7. ^ Rom. i. 15, 16. 



120 EXPOSITION OF PSALM CXIX. 

Lord, nor of me his prisoner/' ^ With how many does 
" the fear of man bring a snare ! Many a good 
soldier has faced the cannon's mouth with undaunted 
front, and yet shrunk away with a coward's heart from 
the reproach of the cross, and been put to the blush 
even by the mention of the Saviour's name. Far better 
— the Son of man strengthening you" — brave the fiery 
furnace or the den of lions in the service, than, like 
Jonah, by flinching from the cross, incur the sting of 
conscience and the frown of God. ^ 

Professing Christians ! are we ready to bear our 
testimony for Jesus, when the sneer and ridicule of the 
ungodly are to be encountered ? We have not to face 
the enmity of " kings.'' We are not likely to be 
brought before kings and rulers for the Son of Man's 
sake." ^ Yet Divine help, and strong faith are not 
less needed by us in withstanding the enmity of a 
prejudiced relative or scornful neighbour. Young 
people ! you are perhaps in especial danger of being 
ashamed of your Bible, your religion, your Saviour. 
You may often be brought under the snare" of fear 
of man," and be tempted to compromise your religion, 
and to sacrifice your everlasting all from a dread of 
" the reproach of Christ." But remember him, who 
for your sake before Pontius Pilate witnessed a good 
confession ; " ^ and will the dread of a name restrain 
you from sharing his reproach, and banish the obliga- 
tions of love and gratitude from your hearts ? Have 
you forgotten, that you once owned the service of 
Satan ; and will you not be bold for Christ, as you 
were for him ? Were you once glorying in your 
shame," and will you now be ashamed of your glory ? 



1 2 Tim. i. 8. 2 pj-Q^. xxix. 25. 

^ Dan. iii. 16—18. vi. 16—22. with Jonah i. 1—15. 
^ Luke xxi. 12. Mark xiii. 9. * 1 Tim. vi. 13. 



VERSE 47. 121 

Oh ! remember who hath said — Whosoever shall be 
ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous 
and sinful generation, of him also shall the Son of 
Man be ashamed, when he cometh in the glory of his 
Father with the holy angels/' ^ Think much and 
often of this word. Think on this day. Think on 
the station of the fearful and unbelieving'' on the 
left hand on that day. Think on their eternal doom ; 2 
and pray and tremble for yourselves. If you are sincere 
in your determination, and simple in your dependence, 
then will the love of Christ constrain you," ^ not to a 
cold, calculating, reluctant service ; but to a confession 
of your Saviour, bold, unfettered, and faithful even 
unto death." ^ Every deviation from the straight path 
bears the character of being ashamed of Christ. How 
much have you to speak in behalf of his testimonies, his 
ways, his love ! When in danger of the influence of the 
fear of man, look to him for strength. He will give to 
you — as he gave to Stephen — a mouth and wisdom, 
which all your adversaries shall not be able to gainsay 
or resist." ^ Thus will you, like them, be strengthened 
to profess a good profession before many witnesses." ^ 

47. And I will delight myself in thy commandments^ 
which I have loved. 

It is but poor comfort to the believer to be able 
to talk well to others upon the ways of God, and 
even to " bear the reproach " of his people, when his 
own heart is cold, insensible, and dull. He longs 
for ''delight'^ in these ways; and he shall delight 
in them. And why do we not more boldly use the 

1 Mark viii. 33. ^' Rev. xxi. 8. ^2 Cor. v 14. 

* Rev. ii. 10. ' Luke xxi. 15, with Acts vi. 10. 
^ 1 Tim. vi. 12 

G 



122 EXPOSITION OF PSALM CXIX. 

language of faith, and say — I will delight myself 
in thy commandments ? ^' That which is the burden 
of the carnal heart is the delight of the renewed souL 
The former is enmity against God ; and therefore 
is not, and cannot be, subject to his law."^ The 
latter can delight in nothing else. — If the gospel 
separates the heart from the delights of a sinful world, 
it is only to make room for delights of a more elevated, 
satisfying, and enduring nature. ^ Satan indeed gene- 
rally baits his temptations with that seductive witchery 
which the world calls pleasure. But has he engrossed 
all pleasure into his service ? Are there no pleasures 
besides the pleasures of sin ? " Can the ways of the 
Lord promise nothing but difficulty and trial ? What 
means then 'the experience of him, who could '^rejoice 
in them, as much as in all riches," and who loved 
them above gold ; yea, above fine gold ? " ^ The mar- 
row and fatness of our Father's house is surely a most 
gainful exchange for the husks of the far country."^ 
The joy of the saint is not that false, polluted, deadly 
joy, which is all that the worldling knows, and all that 
he has to look for ; but it flows spontaneously from 
the fountain of living waters through the pure channel 
of ''the word of God, which liveth and abideth for 
ever.'' Nay, so independent is it of any earthly spring, 
that it never flourishes more than in the desolate wil- 
derness, or the sick-bed solitude ; so that, '' although 
the fig-tree shall not blossom, neither shall fruit be 
ill the vines, yet we will rejoice in the Lord, we will 
joy in the God of our salvation." ^ The world see 

1 Rom. viii. 7. 

^ * Delectationes non amittimus, sed mutamus' — was the ex- 
pression of one of the ancients. ' I life a voluptuous life ' — said 
the excellent Joseph Alleine to his wife — ' but it is upon spiritual 
dainties, such as the world know not, nor taste not of.' 

3 Verses 14, 127. ^ Luke xv. 13—24. ^ Hab. iii. 17, 18. 



VERSE 47. 



123 



what religion takes away, but they see little of what it 
gives ; ^ else, instead of pitying our folly, they would 
reproach their own blindness. Thus saith the Lord 
God, Behold, my servants shall eat, but ye shall be 
hungry : behold, my servants shall drink, but ye shall 
be thhsty: behold, my servants shall rejoice, but ye 
shall be ashamed : behold, my servants shall sing for 
joy of heart, but ye shall cry for sorrow of heart, and 
shall howl for vexation of spirit/' ^ Acceptable obe- 
dience must however flow from love, and be accom- 
panied with a measure of " delight,^' And surely at the 
very time that we are abhorring ourselves in dust 
and ashes before our God, we have every reason to 
delight in his ways ; and it cannot be entirely right 
with us, until something of this "delight in God's 
commandments'^ is felt and enjoyed. But do we 
complain of the dullness of our hearts, that we cannot 
delight in the commandments of God ? Let us seek 
for a deeper impression of redeeming love. This will 
be the spring of grateful obedience and holy delight. 
Let us endeavour to turn our complaints into prayers, 
and the Lord will quickly turn them into praises. — Let 
us watch against every thing that would intercept our 
communion with Jesus. Distance from him must be 
accompanied with poverty of spiritual enjoyment — 
" They shall be abundantly satisfied with the fatness 
of thy house ; and thou shalt make them drink of the 
river of thy pleasures. For with thee is the fountain 
l\f^> in thy light shall we see light,'' ^ 

* Cyprian in one of his Epistles (ad Donat.) mentions the great 
difficulty he found in overcoming the false view of the gloom 
of rehgion— little suspecting that the cause of the gloom was in 
himself— not in the gospel. But this is explained, Matt, vi.23. 
^ Isaiah Ixv. 13, 14. 3 pgaim xxxvi. 8, 9. 

G 2 



124 



EXPOSITION OF PSALM CXIX. 



48. My hands also icill I lift up unto thy commayid- 
ments, ivhich I have loved; and I ivill meditate 
in thy statutes. 

Scarcely any expression seems to be equal to set 
forth the fervency of David's love and delight in the 
ways and word of God. Here we find him lifting 
up his hands " with the gesture of one, who is longing 
to embrace the object of his desire with both hands 
and his whole heart. ^ Perhaps also in lifting up his 
hands unto the commandments,^^ he might mean to 
express his looking upward for assistance to keep 
them, and to live in them.^ But how humbling this 
comparison ' with ourselves. Alas! how often, from 
the neglect of this influence of the Spirit of God, do 
our hands hang down," instead of being lifted up'* 
in these holy ways ! "^l^e are too often content with 
a scanty measure of love, going from day to day without 
any sensible ^'hungering and thirsting after righteous- 
ness ; " neither able to pray with life and power, nor 
to hear with comfort and profit, nor to do good and 
to communicate" with cheerfulness, nor to meditate 
with spiritual delight, nor to live for God with zeal 
and interest, nor to anticipate the endurance of the 
cross with unflinching resolution — the soul equally 
disabled for heavenly communion or active devoted- 
ness-— Oh ! let us beware of looking for ease under 
the power of this deadening malady. Let us rather 
struggle and cry for deliverance from it. Let us sub- 
scribe ourselves before God as wretched, and helpless, 
and guilty. Let us encourage ourselves before him 
with the thought, that he can look upon us and revive 



1 See Psalm cxliii. 6. 



' See Ibid, xxviii. 2. 



VERSE 48. 125 

US. Let us take hold upon his covenant/' and 
plead, that he will look upon us. Let us put him 
in remembrance of the glory of his name, which is 
much more concerned in delivering us out of this 
frame, by his quickening and enlivenino; grace, than 
in leaving us, stupid, corrupt, and carnal in it. Pro- 
fessor ! awake ; or beg of the Lord to awaken you ! 
For if your cold sleeping heart is contented with the 
prospect of a heaven hereafter, without seeking for a 
present foretaste of its blessed enjoyments, it may be 
a very questionable matter whether heaven will ever 
be yours. 

Delight, however, will exercise itself in an habitual 
meditation in the statutes The breathing of the 
heart will be — how love I thy law ! it is my 
meditation all the dayJ^" It is in holy meditation 
on the word of God, that all the graces of the Spirit 
are manifested. What is the principle of faith, but 
the reliance of the soul upon the promises of the word ? 
What is the sensation of godly fear, but the soul 
trembling before the threatenings of God ? ^ What 
is the object of hope, but the apprehended glory of 
God ? What is the excitement of desire or love, but 
longing, endearing contemplations of the Saviour, and 
of his unspeakable blessings ? So that we can scarcely 
conceive of the influence of grace separated from 
spiritual meditation in the word. It is this which, 
under the teaching sought from above, draws out its 
hidden contents, and exhibits them to the soul, as the 
objects upon which the principles and afl:ections of the 
Divine life are habitually exercised. Xot that any 
benefit can be expected from meditation, even upon 
the word of God, as an abstract duty. If not closely 



1 See Psalm i. 2. 



2 Verse 97. 
G 3 



2 Verse 120. 



126 EXPOSITION OF PSALM CXIX. 

joiaed and mixed with prayer, it will degenerate into 
dry, speculative study. If not applied to some dis- 
tinct practical purpose, it will be unedifying in itself, 
and unsatisfactory for the important ends designed by 
it — the discerning of the mind of God, and feeding 
upon the rich provision of the gospel. 

Let it be a matter of daily inquiry— Does my read- 
ing of the word of God furnish food for my soul — 
matter for prayer — direction for conduct ? Scriptural 
study, when entered upon in a prayerful spirit, will 
never, like many other studies, be unproductive. The 
mind that is engaged in it, is fitly set for bearing 
fruit: it will bring forth fruit in due season." ^ 
Meditation .kindles love, as it is the effect of love — 

While I was musing, the fire burned." ^ Whoso 
looketh into the perfect law of liberty, and continueth 
therein, this man is blessed in his deed." ^ But let 
us take heed, that the root of religion in the soul is 
not cankered by the indulgence of secret sin. The 
largest supply of Christian ordinances will fail to 
refresh us, except the heart be kept right with God 
in simplicity of faith, love, and diligence in the service 
of Christ. 



1 Psalm i. 2, 3. 



2 Ibid, xxxix. 3. 



2 James i. 25. 



VERSE 49. 



127 



PART VII. 

49. Remember the word unto thy servant, upon ivhich 
thou hast caused me to hope. 

''Gob has not forgotten he cannot forget— hk 
word, ''on which he causes his servants to hope. - 
But he permits — nay commands them to remind him 
of it, in order to exercise their sincerity, earnestness, 
faith, and patience. There are indeed times, when, 
thouo-h he has ''caused us to hope in his icord.'' yet 
hope deferred maketh the heart sick." ^ Still, how- 
ever, let the remembrance of the promises of a faithful 
God be our constant pleading at the throne of gTace 

Remember the icord unto thy servant/' Indeed 

the proper use to be made of the promises, is, to 
furnish '' aro'uments, wherewith to fill our mouths, 
when we order our cause before God.*' - And when 
thus pleaded with the earnestness and humility of 
faith, thev will be found to be Divine and blessed 
realities. Besides— Have you not found, Christian 
reader, some word of God made especially precious 
to your soul, as illustrated in the daily occurrences of 
Pro^-idence, or applied by the immediate power of the 
Spirit ? Such words are thus made your own ; and 
most important is it to you to lay them up in your 
heart against some future time of trial, when you 
mav brins: them before your God, and " put him in 
remembrance 3 of them. The same principle and 
exercise of faith may be applied to the invitations- 



^ ProY. xiii. 12. 



- Job xxiii. 4. 



s Isaiah xliii. 26. 



l^O EXPOSITION OF PSALM CXIX. 

of the Gospel. Have you not often been aiTested 
by such a word as this— Him that cometh unto me, 

1 will in no wise cast out ? i Then do not question 
your right, or neglect to plead it as a coming sinner— 
' Lord, I hope in this thy word— I believe that it is 
of thine own Spirit that I do hope in it— Thou hast 
caused me to hope in it. Remember this word unto 
thy servant:' ' Thus does prayer form the promise 
of God into a prevailing argument, and send it back to 
heaven in the exercise of faith ; nothing doubting, but 
that it will be verified in God's best time and way. 2 

Again— If you have ever found power in God's 
word against any besetting sin, will it not be an 
encouragement, when again beset by the temptation, 
to look to thie same source for help, in the assurance, 
that " he who hath delivered, doth deliver, and will 
even to the end deliver ? " 3 He hath done great 
things for you "—And is not this an earnest of more ? 
" Because thou hast been my help, therefore under 
the shadow of thy wings will I rejoice." 4 p^ith is 
not trusting what the eye sees, but what the word 
promises. And may you not— Believer— at any time 
confidently receive a promise as the distinct message to 
your soul, where you are conscious of a readiness to 
receive the whole word as the rule of your life ? Oh ! 
does it not set an edge upon your prayers to eije a 
promising God, and to consider his promises— not as 
Hanging in the air, without any definite direction or 
meaning, but as individually spoken and belonging to 

^ John yi. 37. 

2 We may observe Jacob making precisely this use of the word 
of promise to great advantage, at a time of personal extremity 
Gen. xxxii. 9, 10, 12, with xxxi. 3, 13, xxviii. 13— 15.— Was not 
this m fact pleading—'' Remember the word mito thy servant, upon 
which thou hast caused me to hope?'' Compare also verse ^38 of 
this Psalm. 

3 2 Cor. i. 10. 4 Psalm Ixiii. 7. 



VERSE 50. 

yourself as a child and servant of God ? Remember 
the word unto thy servant.'' Indeed this is the ex- 
perience and comfort of the life of faith. This un- 
folds the true secret of living to God. And this 
will end at last with the triumphant death-bed— Be- 
hold, this day I am going the way of all the earth : 
and ye know in all your hearts and in all your souls, 
that not one thing hath failed of all the good things 
which the Lord your God spake concerning you ; all 
are come to pass unto you, and not one thing hath 
failed thereof." ^ 

50. This is my comfort in my affliction; for thy word 
hath quickened me» 

David was encouraged to plead the word of promise 
in prayer, from the recollection of its '^comfort in'' 
his "Affliction," Xever indeed are we left un- 
supported in such a time, or called to drink a cup 
of unmingied tribulation. In the moments of our 
bitterest sorrow, are not we compelled to stand amazed 
at the tenderness, which is daily and hourly exercised 
towards us ? Whatever our affliction may be, we need 
never be at a loss for some word exactly suited to it, 
and which we could not have understood without it ; 
and a word" thus spoken in due season, how good 
is it ! " 2 One word of God, sealed to the heart, in- 



1 Jo5. xxiii. 14. 

' Prov XV 23. 'I will show vou a privilege that others want, 
and vou have in this case. Such as are in prosperity and are 
hlled with earthlv joys, and increased with children and friends ; 
thou-h the word of God is indeed written for their mstruction 
vet to YOU who are in trouble, and from whom the Lord hath 
taken many children, and whom he hath otherwise exercised, 
there are some chapters, some particular promises in the word 
of God, made in an especial manner, which would never have 
been yours, so as they now are, if you had had your portion m 

G 5 



130 EXPOSITION OF PSALM CXIX. 

fuses more sensible relief, than ten thousand words 
of man. When therefore the word assures us of the 
presence of God in affliction ; i of the continued pity 
and sympathy of the Lord in his most severe dis- 
pensations ;3 and of their certain issue to our ever- 
lasting good; 3 must not we say of the word—" This 
is our comfort in our affliction ? " And are not dis- 
tressed souls revived by the word, as the channel, in 
which the Saviour's love streams forth on every side ; 
imparting life, refreshment and strength to those, who 
but for this comfort would have " fainted," * a!id 
"perished in their affliction? "3 This indeed was 
the end for which the scriptures were written ; 6 and 
such power of consolation have thev sometimes ad- 
ministered 'to the afflicted saint, that tribulation has 
almost ceased to be a trial, and the retrospect has been 
the source of thankful recollection. 

But those only, who have felt the quickening power 
of the word, can realize its consolations. Be thank- 
ful, then. Reader, if, when dead in sins, it quickened 
you; 7 and, when sunk in trouble, once and again it 
has revived you.s Yet think not, that it is any innate 
power of its own, that works so graciously for you. 
^NTo. The exhibition of the Saviour is the"^ spring of 
life and consolation. It is because it "testifies" of 
him "9— "the consolation of Israel" lO—" afflicted 
in all our afflictions "ii_and never failing to uphold 

this world like others. It is no small comfort that God hath 
vntten some scriptures to you, which he hath not to others 
t'n nT'i tl^i^k God is like a friend, who sendeth a letter 
to a w-,iole house and family, but who speaketh in his letter to 

I etters^ "^^""'^ *° '^^^ house.'— Rutherford's 

\ p v. 2. Exodus iii. 7. 3 Rom. viii. 8. 

I Psalm xxvu. 13. 5 verse 92. s ^ 

; James i. 18. 1 Peter i. 23, « Verses 81, 82. 

John Y. sy. 10 L„ke ii. 25. n isa. Kui P 



VERSE 51. 

with - grace sufficient for us.'' ^ It is not, however, 
the word without the Spirit, nor the Spirit generally 
without the word; but the Spirit by the word-first 
putting life into the word,^^ and then by the word 
quickening the soul. The word then is only the 
instrument. The Spirit is the Almighty agent. 
Thus the work is the Lord's ; and nothing is left 
for us, but the exercise of self-renunciation, and the 
song of praise. 

51. The proud have had me greatly in derision : yet 
have I not declined from thy law. 

If David— a king, a man of wisdom and prudence, 
and therefore not likely to provoke unnecessary of- 
fence, and whose character and rank might be ex- 
pected to command respect -if he was not shielded 
from " the derision of the proud'' on account of the 
profession and service of his God, surely it furnishes 
a striking confirmation of the declaration—'' Yea, and 
all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer 
persecution.'' ^ But thus it ever was, and ever will 
be. Paith in the doctrines of Christ, and conformity 
to the strict commandments of the Gospel, must 
expose us to the taunts of the unbeliever and the 
worldling. Yet, where the heart is right with God, 
the "derision of the proud,'' instead of forcing us to 
- decline from the laiu of God," will strengthen our 
adherence to it. Thus David answered the bitter 

derision" of Michal with a stronger resolution to 
abide by his God— ''I will yet be more vile than 
thus."^^ He counted it his glory, his duty, his joy. 
None however but a believer knows what it is to bear 



^ 2 Cor. xii. 9. 
2 2 Tim. iii. 12. 



^ John vi. 63. 

4 2 Sam. vi. 20—22. 



132 EXPOSITION OF PSALM CXIX. 

the contempt and derision of an ungodly world on 
account of religion ; and none but a real believer can 
bear it. It is one of the touchstones of sincerity, 
the application of which has often been the means of 
''separating the precious from the vile," and has 
unmasked the self-confident professor to his own con- 
fusion. Oh ! how many make a fair profession, and 
appear " good soldiers of Jesus Christ/' until the 
hour of danger proves them deserters. It is, therefore, 
of DTeat importance to those who are just setting out 
in the warfare to be well-armed with the word of God. 
It kept David steadfast amidst the derision of the 
proud;'' and it will keep young Christians from 
being frightened or overcome by the sneer of an 
ungodly world. But that it may ^' dwell in us richly 
in all wisdom,''^ and be suited to our own case, it 
will be well under circumstances of reproach to 
acquaint ourselves with the supporting promises and 
encouragements to sufferers for righteousness' sake.^ 
Above all, the contemplation of the great Sufferer 
himself— meeting this poignant trial in meekness,^ 
compassion and prayer^— will exhibit a refug^ 
from the storm, and a shadow from the heat, when 
the blast of the terrible ones is as the storm against 
the wall." 5 The mere professor knows not^ this 
refuge; he possesses not this armour; so that, ^^when 
affliction or persecution ariseth for the word's sake, 
immediately he is offended." ^ Blessed be God! 
the weapons of our warfare are drawn from the Divine 

^ Col. iii. 16. 

Such as the benediction of the Saviour. Luke vi 99 23 
confirmed by the recorded experience of the Lord's most favoured 
servants, the Apostles— Acts v. 4 L— Paul especially, 2 Cor. xih 
10 ; Col. 1 24,— the disciples of Thessalonica, 1 Thess. i. 6,— the 
Hebrew Christians, Heb. x. 34. 

^ 2 Psalm xxii. 6—8. Luke xxiii. 35. 1 Peter ii. 23. 

- Luke xxiii. 34. 5 i^^^ xxv. 4. 6 ^^rk iv. 17. 



VERSE 52. 133 

armoury, and therefore, depending on the grace, and 
following the example, of Jesus, we shall find, that 
to suffer is the way to victory — the road to an ever- 
lasting crown. 

52. / remembered thy judgments of old, Lord ; and 
have comforted myself 

The recollections of the Lord's former dealings with 
his people were David's support, while smarting under 

the scourge of the tongue. '^ ^ And perhaps few 
subjects of meditation are more fruitful in encourage- 
ment. We are ready to imagine something peculiar 
ill our own case, and to '^hink it strange concerning 
the fiery trial which is to try us, as though some 
strange thing happened unto us ; ^ but when w^e 

remember the Lord^s judgments of old, " with his 
people, we comfort ourselves^' in the assurance, that 

the same afflictions are accomplished in our brethren, 
that have been in the world ; " ^ ^nd that as the 
sufferings of Christ have abounded in them, so their 
consolation also abounded by Christ.'' ^ They always 
encountered the same "derision of the proud,'^ and 
always experienced the same support fi'om the faith- 
fulness of their God. We do not probably remember, 
as we ought, the mercy and gracious wisdom of God 
in occupying so much of his written word with the 
records of his '^judgments of old." With some a 
prominent attention is paid to the preceptive, and 
with others to the doctrinal parts, of revelation — each 
class seeming to forget, that the Historical records 
comprise a full and striking illustration of both, and 
in this view have always proved most supporting 

1 Job V. 21. - \ Peter iv. 12. 

3 Ibid. V. 9. ^ 2 Cor. i. 5. 



134 



EXPOSITION OF PSALM CXIX. 



grounds of consolation to the Lord's people. There 
must indeed obviously have been some important 
design in casting so large a portion of the small volume 
of Revelation into an Historical form ; and the desig^n 
that appears throughout is every v/ay worthy of its 
Author. Whatsoever things were written aforetime, 
were written for our learning ; that we through patience 
and comfort of the Scriptures might have hope ; " ^ and 
how admirably adapted the means are to the end, those 
who are most diligent in the search of the Scripture- 
field will bear ample witness. Whoever therefore 
wilfully neglect the historical portion of the sacred 
volume, from the idea of confining their attention to 
what they deem the more spiritual parts of Scripture 
— they show a sad deficiency of spiritual apprehension, 
and deprive themselves of most valuable instruction, 
and most abundant comfort. From this view of the 
design of the historical records, it is plain that the 
neglect of them would exclude us from one eminent 
means of increasing " patience," in the example of 
those, ''who through faith and patience inherit the 
promises " — of receiving " comfort," in the experience 
of the faithfulness of God manifested in every age to 
his people — and of enlivening our '' hope," in marking 
the happy issue of the " patience of the saints," and 
the heavenly support administered unto them.- So 
far, therefore, are we from being little interested in 
the scriptural record of past ages, that it is evident, 
that the sacred historians as well as the prophets, 
'' ministered not unto themselves, but unto us, the 
things which are now reported." ^ 

^ Rom. XV. 4. 

^ In this view, the recollection of the Lord's judgments of eld 
"puts anew song into the mouth" of the Church of ''thanks- 
giving unto her God." Isaiah xxv. !■— 4. 

2 I Peter i. 12. 



VERSE 52. 



135 



Let us select one or two instances as illustrative 
of this subject. Why were the records of the deluge, 
and of the overthrow of the cities of the plain pre- 
served, but as exhibitions to the church, that *'the 
Lord the Saviour of Noah, the eighth person, and 
the deliverer of just Lot — " knoweth how to deliver 
the godly out of temptations, and to reserve the unjust 
unto the day of judgment to be punished ? " ^ lYhat 
a source of ^'comfort" then to the tempted people 
of God are the remembrances of these judgments 
of old ! " And if we instance the wonderful history of 
the overthrow of the Egyptians, and the consequent 
deliverance of God's ancient people, we may continu- 
ally observe the church recollecting this interposition 
as a ground of assurance, that under similar circum- 
stances of trial, the same illustrious displays of Divine 
faithfulness and love may be confidently expected. 
She looks back upon what has been done by the arm 
of the Lord in ancient days, and in the generation of 
old," as the pattern of what the Lord ever would be, 
and ever would do, for his purchased people, ^ Thus 
also God himself recalls to our mind this overthrow 
and deliverance as a ground of present encouragement 
and support — " According to the days of thy corning 
out of the land, of Egypt will I show unto him marv^el- 
lous things ^- — and the Church echoes back this 
remembrance in the expression of her faith, gratitude, 
and expectation for spiritual blessings — "He icill 
subdue our iniquities ; and thou wilt cast all their sins 
into the depths of the sea." ^ Such is the interesting 
use that may be made of the historical parts of Scrip- 
ture. Such is the " comfort " to be derived from the 
" remembrance of the Lord's judgments of old ! '^ 

1 2 Peter ii. 5—9. " Isa. li. 9—11. 

^ Micah vii. 15. ^ Ibid. 1 9. 



136 EXPOSITION OF PSALM CXIX. 

And is not the recollection of his ''judgments of old'' 
with ourselves, productive of the same support ? Does 
not the retrospect of his dealings with our own souls 
serve to convince us, that '' all his paths are mercy 
and truth The 'assurance is therefore warranted 

alike by experience and by Scripture, — " We know 
that all things work together for good to them that 
love God, to them who are the called according to his 
purpose." 2 

53. Horror hath taken hold upon me, because of the 
wicked that forsake thy law. 

Surely to a compassionate and reflecting mind, the 
condition of the world must excite commiseration and 
concern ! A whole world lying in wickedness ! " ^ 
lying therefore in ruins ! the image of God effaced ! 
the presence of God departed ! " Horror hath taken 
hold of me ! " to see the law of Him, who gave being 
to the v/orld, so little regarded ! so utterly forsaken ! 
So much light and love shining from heaven in vain ! 
The earthly heart cannot endure, that any restraint 
should be imposed ; much less that any constraint, 
even of love, should be employed to change its bias, 
and turn it back to its God. Are you then a believer ? 
then will you be most tender of the honour of the law 
of God. Every stroke at his law you will feel as a 
stroke at your own heart. Are you a believer ? then 
will you consider every man as your brother ; and 
weep to see so many of them around you, crowding 
the broad road of destruction, and perishing as the 
miserable victims of their own deceivings. The pros- 
pect on every side is, as if God were cast do\vn 

^ Psalm XXV. 10. ^ Rom. viii. 28. 

3 I John V. 19. 



VERSE 53. 137 

from his throne, and the creatures of his hand were 
murdering their own souls. But how invariably does 
a declining state — when we feel cold and languid 
respectino; our own eternal interests— affect the ten- 
derness of our regard for the honour of our God ; so 
that we can look at the wicked that forsake God's 
law " with comparative indifference and unconcern ! 
Awful indeed is the thought, that it ever can be with 
us a small matter, that multitudes are sinking I going 
down into perdition ! with the name of Christ— under 
the seal of baptism— partakers of the means of gospel 
grace — yet perishing ! Xot indeed that Vr e are to 
yield to a paralyzing feeling of ^'horror,'' instead of 
calling forth all our powers of exertion on their behalf. 
For do we owe them no duty— no prayer— no labour ? 
Shall we look upon souls hurrying on with such 
dreadful haste to unutterable, everlasting torments ; 
and permit them to rush on blinded, unawakened, 
unalarmed? If there is a horror'' to see a brand 
apparently fitting for the fire, will there not be a 
%vrestKng endeavour to pluck that brand out of the 
fire ? Have we quite forgotten in our omi case the 
fearful terrors of an unconverted state — the Almighty 
power of ^vrath and justice armed against us — the 
thunder of that voice — Vengeance belongeth unto 
me ; I will recompence, saith the Lord ? " ^ Oh ! 
if the love of the Saviour and the love of souls were 
rei2:ning with more mighty influence in our hearts, 
how much more devoted should we be in our little 
sphere of labour ! how much more enlarged in our 
supplications, until all the kingdom of Satan were 
subject to the obedience of the Son of God, and 
conquered by the force of his Omnipotent love ! 



1 Heb. X. 30, vv-ith Deut. sxxii. 35. 



138 EXPOSITIOX OF PSALM CXIX. 

But if the sphit of David, renewed but in part, was 
thus filled with horror in the contemplation of the 
wicked— what must have been the affliction— what the 
intensity of his sufferings — who was holy, harmless, 
undefiled, separate from sinners — yea, of purer 
eyes than to behold iniquity s^du^^^g thirty-three 
years of continued contact with a world of sin ? 
What shall we say of the condescension of his love 
inwearmg ^^the likeness of sinful flesh 3— dwellino; 
among sinners — yea, ''receiving sinners, and eatino- 
with them ! ** ^ 

Blessed Spirit! impart to us more of '-the mind 
that was in Christ Jesus ! that the law of God 
may be increasingly precious in our eyes, and that 
we may be " exceedingly jealous for the Lord God 
of Hosts ! ! Help us, by thy gi'acious influence, to 
plead with sinners for God, and to plead for sinners 
with God ! 

54. Thy statutes have been my songs in the house of my 

inlgrimage. 

Come, Christian pilgrim, and beguile your weari- 
some journey heavenward by siuoing the Lord's 
song in this sti'ange land.'' 5 -Wiii^ fj-^^ statutes 
of GocV in your hand and in your heart, you are 

furnished with a song for every step of vour wav 

''The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. He 
maketh me to lie down in green pastures ; he leadeth 
me beside the still waters. He restoreth my soul ; 
he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his 
name's sake. Yea, though I walk through the valley 
of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil ; for thoii 

1 Heb. Yii. 26. - Hab. 1. 13. Compare Psalm v. 5. 

^ Rom. viii. 3. 4 Luke xv. 2. ^ Psalm cxxxvii. 4. 



VERSE 54. la^ 

art with me ; thy rod and thy staff, they comfort me. 
Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of 
mine enemies : thou anointest my head with oil ; my 
cup runneth over. Surely goodness and mercy shall 
follow me all the days of my life ; and I will dwell 
in the house of the Lord for ever/^ i How delight- 
fully does this song bring before you Him, who 
havmg laid down his life for you, engages himself as 
your Provider, your Keeper, your Guide, your faithful 
and unchangeable friend. A song such as this there- 
fore cannot fail to smooth your path and reconcile you 
to the many inconveniences of the way ; while the 
recollection, that this is only " the house of your 
pilgrimage;' and not your home; and that '^here 
remaineth a rest for the people of God," ^ will sup- 
port the exercise of faith and patience to the end. 
The same statutes, which are the yoke and burden of 
the worldly professor, are the subject of the believer's 
daily song, and the source of his daily comfort. They 
lead him from pleasure to pleasure, and under the 
cherishing vigour of gracious communications, they 
make his way and work easy and prosperous. Evi- 
dently therefore, our knowledge of the Lord's statutes, 
and our delight in them, will furnish a decisive test 
of our real state before God. But what reason have 
we every moment to guard against that debasing, 
stupifyiug influence of the world, which makes us 
forget the proper character of a pilgrim ! And what 
habitual conflict must be maintained with the sloth 
and aversion of a reluctant heart to maintain our pro- 
gress in the journey towards Zion ! Reader have you 
entered upon a pilgrim's life ? Then what is your 
solace and refreshment on the road ? It is dull. 



1 Psalm xxiii. 



2 Heb. iv. 9. 



140 EXPOSITION OF PSALM CXIX. 

heavy, wearisome, to be a pilgriiii without a " song." 
And yet it is only the blessed experience of the Lord's 
statutes that will tune our " song." " If therefore 
you have tasted that the Lord is gi-acious," i if " he 
has thus put a new song into your mouth," 2 Oh! 
do not suffer any carelessness or neglect to rob you 
of this heavenly anticipation. And, that your lips 
be not found mute, seek to keep your heart in tune. 
Seek to maintain a lively contemplation of the place 
whither you are going-of Him, who as your " fore- 
runner is for you entered " 3 thither— and of the pros- 
pect, that, having " prepared a place for you, he 
will come again, and take you to himself , that where 
he is, there you maybe also."* In this spirit, and 
with these -hopes before you, you may take up your 
song—" O God, my heart is fixed: I will sing, and 
give praise. I will bless the Lord at all times— 
his praise shall continually be in my mouth." 5 Xhus 
may you go on your pilgrimage, "singing in the 
ways of the Lord," 6 and commencing a song below, 
which in the world of praise above, shall never, never 
cease.* 



55. / have remembered thy name, Lord, in the night, 
and have kept thy law. 

If at any time we are enabled to spend the waking 
moments of the night with God, " the darkness is no 
darkness with us, but the night shineth as the day." 
David often speaks of especial satisfaction and refresh- 
ment, when he " remerabered the iiame of his God in 
the night." ^ Many a tired believer can recom- 

1 1 Peter ii. 3. 2 Psalm xl. 3. a Heb. vi. 20. 

^ John xiv. 2, 3. -5 Psalm cviii. 1 ; xxxiv. 1. 

Ibid, cxxxviii. 5. - Rev. iv. 8. s pg^im ]xiii. 5, 6. 



VERSE 55. 141 

mend this cordial for the distressing restlessness of a 
wakeful night, as having found it more restorative 
to the quiet of his earthly frame than the most sove- 
reign specifics of the medical world.— So he giveth 
his beloved sleep." i And if in any ^Miight of 
affliction we feel the hand of the Lord grievous to us, 
do we not find in the remembrance of the Lord " a 
never-failing support ? ^^'hat does our darkness arise 
from, but from our forgetfulness of God, blotting 
out for a while the lively impressions of his tender 
care, his unchanging faithfulness, and his mysterious 
methods of working his gTacious will ? And to bring 
up as it were from the grave the remembrance of 
God's name as manifested in his promises, and in the 
dispensation of his love; this is indeed the light, 
that is sown for the righteous,'' - and which spring- 
eth up out of darkness." 3 It is to eye the character 
of the Lord as All-wise to appoint Almighty to 
secure. All-compassionate to sympathize and support. 
It is to recollect him as a father pitpng his 
children ; " ^ as a friend that loveth at all times," ^ 
and ^'that sticketh closer than a brother." ^ And 
even in those seasons of depression, when the mdul- 
gence of sin, or the neglect of tenderness of spirit, 
have brought the darkness of night upon the soul, 
though " the remembrance of the name of the Lord'' 
may be gTievous, yet it opens the way to consolation. 
It tells us, that there is a way made for our return ; 
that " the Lord w^aiteth that he might be gTacious ; " * 
and that in the first step of our return to our father, 
we shall find him full of mercy to his backsliding 

1 Psalm cxxvii. 2. - Ibid, xcvii. 11. 

^ Ibid. cxii. 4. ^ Ibid. ciii. 13. 

5 Prov. xvii. 17. ' ^ Ibid, xviii, 24. 

" Isaiah xxx. 18. 



142 EXPOSITION OF PSALM CXIX. 

children.'^ And thus, though weeping may endure 
for a night, joy cometh in the mornino;/' 2 

But let us inquire into the Lord's revelation of his 
own name, and we shall then more clearly conceive 
of its support in the darkest midnight of tribulations, 
''And the Lord descended in the cloud, and stood 
with him (3Ioses) ; and proclaimed the name of the 
Lord. And the Lord passed by before him, and 
proclaimed— The Lord, the Lord God, merciful and 
.gracious, long-suffering, and abundant in goodness 
and truth, keeping mercy for thousands, forgivino- 
iniquity, transgxession, and sin, and will by no means 
clear the guilty.'' 3 Can we wonder that such a name 
as this should be exhibited as a gTound of trust? 
" The name of the Lord is a strong tower; the rioht- 
eous runneth into it, and is safe." They that know 
thy name will put their trust in thee."^ Even our 
suffering Lord appears to have derived support from 
the remembrance of the name of the Lord in the 
Jiighf' of desertion— O my God, I cry in the 
day-time, and thou hearest not; and in the night- 
season, and am not silent. But thou art holy, O thou 
that inhabitest the praises of Israel." ^ And from the 
experience of this source of consolation, we find the 
tempted Saviour directing his tempted people to the 
same support. Who is among you that feareth the 
I-ord, that obeyeth the voice of his sei-vant, that 
walketh in darkness, and hath no light, let him trust 
m the name of the Lord, and stay upon his God." ^ 
Indeed all the rest that can be anticipated in this 
world of trouble can come only from this source — 
the remembrance of the Lord's iiame'^ — what he is 

1 See Luke xv. 20—24. - Psalm xxx. 5. 

3 Exod. xxxiv. 5, 6. Prov. xviii. 10. Psalm ix. 10. 

' Psalm xxii. 2, 3. 6 jgaiah 1. 10. 



VERSE 56. 143 

in himself, and what he has promised to be to us. 
How vast then are our obligations to his dear :^on, as 
the onlv medium by which this name could ever be 
known or remembered! — No man hath seen God at 
any time ; the only-begotten Son, who is in the bosom 
of the Father, he hath declared him.*' i As, however, 
we are taught to know his name, the remembrance 
of the support received from it will be a constraining 
motive to obedience. We shall keep Ms law,'' 
when we ''remember his name.'' A sense of our 
obhgations will impel us forward into the path of 
duty, and will indeed have a most happy influence in 
promotino; diligence, heavenly mindedness, and self- 
devotedness in whatever sphere of action may be 
appointed for us. Obedience will partake far more 
of the character of privilege than of duty, when an 
enlic:htened knowledge of God is the principle of 
action. 

56. This I had, because I kept thy precepts. 

How is it, believer, that you are enabled to sing 
of the Lord's statutes'' — and to ''remember his 
name ? This you have, because you keep his 
precepts. Thus you are able to tell the world, 
that '*in keeping his commandments there is gTeat 
reward — that the " work of righteousness is peace ; 
and the effect of righteousness, quietness, and assur- 
ance for ever.'' ^ Christian ! Let your testimony be 
clear and decided — that ten thousand worlds cannot 
bestow the happiness of one day's devotedness to the 
service of your Lord. For is it not in this path that 
you realize fulness of joy in fellowship with the Father 

1 John i. 18, also vii. 6. Matt. xi. 27. 

2 Psalm xix. U. ^ isa. xxxii. 17. 



144 EXPOSITION OF PSALM CXIX. 

and with his Son Jesus Christ ?" He that hath 
my commandments and keepeth them, he it is that 
loveth me ; and he that loveth me shall be loved of 
my Father, and I will love him, and will jnanifest 
myself \o him— my Father will love him ; and we icill 
come unto him, and make our abode with him/' ^ 
If you were walking more closely with God in ''the 
obedience of faith," the world would never dare to 
accuse religion as the source of melancholy and de- 
spondency. Xo man has any right to the hope of 
happiness in a world of tribulation, but he that seeks 
it in the favour of his God. Xor can any enjoy this 
favour, except as connected in the exercise of faith 
with conformity to the will, and delight in the law, 
of his Gofl. 

But let us remark, how continually David was 
enriching his treasury of spiritual experience with 
some fresh view of the dealings of God with his soul, 
some answer to prayer, or some increase of consolation, 
which he records for his ovm encouragement, and for 
the use of the church of God. Let us seek to imitate 
him in this respect ; and we shall often be enabled to 
say as he does—'' This I this comfort I enjoyed 

—this support in trouble— this remarkable manifesta- 
tion of his love— this confidence I was enabled to 
maintain— " this I had "—it was made mv own— 
" because I kept thy precepts." And how important 
in the absence of spiritual enjoyment to examine — 
" is there not a cause ? " and what is the cause ? 
Have not "strangers devoured my strength; and I 
knew it not ? " - Is the Lord ^' with me as in months 
past? "3 with me in my closet? — with me in my 
family?— with me at my table ?— with me in my 

1 John xiv. 21, 23, with 1 John i. 3, 4. 
- Hos. vii. 9. 3 Job xxix. 2. 



VERSE 56. 145 

daily employments and intercourse with the world ? 
When I hear the faithful people of God telling of 
his love, and saying — " This I had,^- — must I not, 
if unable to join their cheerful acknowledgment, trace 
it to my unfaithful walk, and say — This I had not 
— because I have failed in obedience to thy precepts ; 
because I have been careless and self-indulgent ; 
because I have slighted thy love ; because I have 
" gi'ieved thy Holy Spirit,'' and forgotten to ask 
for the old paths, that I might walk therein, and find 
rest to my soul ? '' i Oh ! let this scrutiny and recol- 
lection of our ways realize the constant need of the 
finished work of Jesus, as our gTound of acceptance, 
and source of strength. This will bring healing- 
restoration — increasing devotedness— tenderness of con- 
science — circumspection of walk, and a determination 
not to rest until we can make this grateful acknowledg- 
ment our o^vn. At the same time, instead of boasting, 
that our o^vn arm, our own diligence, or holiness, 
have gotten us'' into this favour, we shall cast all 
our attainments at the feet of Jesus, and crown him 
Lord of all for ever. 

1 Jer. vi. 16. 



H 



146 EXPOSITION OF PSALM CXIX, 



PART VIII. 

57. Thou art my portion, Lord; I have said that 
I would keep thy words. 

Man, as a dependent being, must be possessed of 
some portion. He cannot live upon himself. He 
must also have a large portion, because the powers 
and capacities to be filled are large. If he has not 
a satisfying portion, he is a wretched empty creature. 
But where and how is he to find this portion ? " There 
be many that say— Who will shew us any good ? 
Lord, lift thou up the light of thy countenance upon 
us ! "1 Ah ! who can speak of the goodness of the 
Lord, in having offered himself as the portion of an 
unworthy sinner, and having engaged to employ his 
perfections for his happiness ? Or who can speak 
of the folly, and madness, and guilt, of the sinner, in 
choosing his portion in this life ; " - as if there was 
no God on the earth, no way of access to him, or no 
happiness to be found in him ? That such madness 
should be found in the heart of man, is a most affect- 
ing illustration of his departure from God ; but that 
God's own " people should commit these two evils — 
forsaking the fountain of living waters, and hewing 
out broken cisterns for themselves ''—is the fearful 
astonishment of heaven itself. ^ 

But we cannot know and enjoy God as our portion, 
except as he has manifested himself in his dear Son in 
the covenant of gTace. And in the knowledge and 



1 Psalm iv. 6. 



2 Ibid. xvii. 14. 



3 Jer.ii. 12, 13. 



VERSE 57. 147 

enjoyment of him, we have little reason to envy those, 
who " in their life-time receive their good things," i 
and therefore have nothing more to expect. Never 
indeed does the poverty of the worldling's portion 
appear more striking than when contrasted with the 
enjoyment of a child of God 2 — " Soul "—said the 
rich fool — '^hou hast much goods laid up for many 
years. But God said— This night thy soul shall be 
required of thee." ^ Augustine's prayer was—' Lord, 
give me thyself ! ' ^ And in this spirit the believer is 
ready to exult—'' Whom have I in heaven but thee ? 
and there is none upon earth that I desire beside thee. 
Return unto thy rest, O my soul. The Lord himself 
is the portion of mine inheritance and of my cup. 
Thou maintainest my lot. The lines are fallen unto 
me in pleasant places, yea I have a goodly heritage. 
I will bless the Lord, who hath given me counsel." 5 
Surely the whole world cannot weigh against the 
comfort of being able to let all go, and look up— 
'' Thou art my portion, Lord,'' For it is as impos- 
sible, that his own people can ever be impoverished, 
as that his own perfections should moulder away. 
This portion however can never be enjoyed, even by 
a child of God, unless he who is the essence of it is 
supreme in the soul— not only above all, but in the 
place of all. Other objects may be subordinately 
loved, but of none but himself must we say — " He is 
altogether lovely/' 6 all things he must have the 

preeminence " T—One with the Father in our affections, 
as in his own subsistence.^ The moment that any rival 
is allowed to usurp the throne of the heart, we open 
the door to disappointment and unsatisfied desires. 

1 Luke xvi. 25 ; vi. 24. 2 Comp. Psalm xvii. 14, 15. 

^ Luke xii. 19, 20. ^ Da mihi te, Domine. 

5 Psalm Ixxiii. 25 ; cxvi. 7 ; xvi. 5—7. 
^Can.v. 16. 7 CoLi. 18. « John x. 30. 

H 2 



148 EXPOSITION OF PSALM CXIX. 

But if we take the Lord as our portion," we 
must take him as our king. I have said, that I 
would keep thy words. This view will furnish a 
complete picture of the Christian's character — taking 
the Lord as his portion," and his word as his rule. 
And what energy for Christian devotedness flows from 
the enjoyment of our Christian portion ! Thus de- 
lighting ourselves in the Lord, he gives us our heart's 
desire, ^ and every desire identifies itself with the 
exercise to his service. All that we are, and all that 
we have, is his ; cheerfully surrendered as his right, 
and willingly employed in his work. Thus do we 
evidence our interest in his salvation; for Christ 
became the author of eternal salvation unto all them 
that obey himJ^ ^ 

Reader ! Inquire —was my choice of this Divine 
portion deliberate, free, unreserved ? Am I resolved, 
that it shall be stedfast and abiding ? that death it- 
self shall not separate me from the employment of it ? 
Am I ready to receive a Sovereign as well as a 
Saviour ? Oh ! let me have a whole Christ for my 
portion ! Oh ! let him have a whole heart for his 
possession. Oh ! let me call nothing mine but him. 

58. / entreated thy favour with my whole heart ; be 
merciful unto me according to thy word. 

If we have chosen the Lord for our *' portion," we 
shall " intreat his favour as ''life,"^ and ''better 
than life," * to our souls. If we have " said, that we 
would keep his words," we shall still " intreat his 
favour " to strengthen and encourage us in his way. 
We shall intreat it with our whole hearts/' as 



1 Psalm xxxvii. 4. 

2 Psalm sxx. 5. 



2 Heb. V. 9. 
4 Ibid. Ixiii. 3. 



VERSE 58. 



149 



though we felt our infinite need of it, and were deter- 
mined to wrestle for it in Jacob's spirit — " I will not 
let thee go, except thou bless me.'^ ^ If we have known 
what unspeakable happiness it is to be brought into 
the favour of God, by the blood of Christ; - and 
if by him also we have access unto that grace wherein 
we stand,^^ ^ how shall we prize the sense of Divine 
favour, the light of our Father^s countenance. We 
shall never be weary of this source of daily enjoyment. 
It is to us as the light of the sun, which shineth every 
day with renewed and unabated pleasure. We ''joy 
in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom we 
have now received the atonement.'^ ^ Mercy, however, 
is the source of that "^favour lohich ive intreat ; " and 
the word is the warrant of our expectation—^' Be 
merciful unto us according to thy vjordJ^ As sinners, 
we need this favour." As believers, we "intreaf^' 
it, in the assurance that praying breath, as the breath 
of faith, will not be spent in vain. Any indulged 
indolence, or neglect, or unfaithfulness — relaxing our 
diligence, and keeping back the whole heart from 
God — will indeed never fail to remove the sunshine 
from the soul. But the blood of Christ still opens 
the way of return to the most habitual backslider, 
even though he may have wandered, as it were, to the 
ends of the earth. For if from thence thou shalt 
seek the Lord thy God, thou shalt find him, if then 
seek him with all thine heart and all thy souL^'' ^ " A 
whole heart '* in seeking the Lord is the seal of the 
Lord's heart in returning to us — I will rejoice over 
them " — saith he — " to do them good ; and I will 
plant them in this land assuredly, loith rny whole heart 
and with my whole souL^^ ^ 

1 Gen. xxxii. 26. ^ Ephes. ii. 13. ^ Rom. v. 1,2. 
^ Ibid. V. 11. ^ Deut. iv. 29. ^ Jer. xxxii. 41. 

H 3 



150 EXPOSITION OF PSALM CXIX. 

Reader ! if you are a child of God, the favour 
of God will be to you the one thing needful." — 
In other things, you will not venture to choose for 
yourself; " for who knoweth what is good for man in 
this life ? " 1 But in this choice you will be decided. 
This gTand incomparable desire will fill your heart. 
This will be to you as the portion of ten thousand 
worlds. Nothing will satisfy besides. 

59. / thought on my ways, and turned my feet unto 
thy testimonies. 

How many appear to pass through the world into 
eternity without a serious " thought on their ways ! " 
Multitudes live for the world— forget God and die ! 
This is their history. What their state is, is wTitten 
as with a sun-beam in the word of truth— The 
wicked shall be turned into hell, and all the nations 
that forget God,'' 2 To banish reflection is indeed 
the highway to ruin. No man repenteth him of 
his wickedness, saying — What have I do7ie ? ^—this 
is the character and ruin of an unthinking world. 
Perhaps one serious thought might be the new birth 
of the soul to God— the first step of the way to 
heaven. For when a man is arrested by the power 
of grace, he is as one awaking out of sleep, lost in 
solemn and serious thought, — ' What am I ? ^ where 
am I ? what have I been ? what have I been doing ? 
I have a soul which is my everlasting all — yet a soul 
without a Saviour — lost— undone. What is my pros- 
pect for its happiness? Behind me is a world of 

1 Eccles. vi. 12. 2 pgalm ix. 17. ^ j^j. yjij 

4 How utterly unmeaning was the celebrated aphorism of an- 
tiquity— Know thyself "—until explained and illustrated by the 
light of Revelation ! 



VERSE 59. 



151 



vanity, an empty void. Before me a fearful unknown 
eternity. Within me an awakened conscience, to 
remind me of an angiy God, and a devouring hell. 
If I stay here, I perish— If I go forward, I perish — 
if I go back, and return home to my offended Father, 
I can but perish.' ^ The resolution is formed — ''I 
will arise," - and fight my way through all difficulties 
and discouragements to my Father's house— Thus 
it is more or less distinctly with every prodigal child 
of God. He comes to himself,'' as his first step 
of retiu-n to his God.^ He tJiinks on his oicn icays,'' 
and in the conviction of his wandering, he turns his 
feet unto the testimonies of his God.'' And how cheer- 
ing is it to him to see every hinderance removed, the 
way tracked with blood, and his Father's smiles in this 
way welcoming his return homeward ! It is true — at 
first his steps may waver, and his eye may see but 
dimly. But this consideration is the practical exercise 
of a genuine faith ; and because he considereth, and 
turneth away from all his transgressions that he hath 
committed, he shall surely live— he shall not die."-i 

But not only is this consideration needed upon the 
first enti-ance into the ways of God ; the believer 
will feel its importance as forming a part of the daily 
habit of his experience. Xothing but disorder will 
be found within, except this daily communing with 
our o\vn hearts'*^ be maintained. Probably David 
did not know how far his feet had backslidden from 
the ways of his God, until this serious consideration 
of his state brought conviction to his soul — so im- 
perceptible is the declining of the heart from God! 
Nor is it a few transient thoughts or resolutions, 
that will effect this turn of the heart to God. A 

^ Comp. 2 Kings vii. 4. ^ Lrji^e xv. 13. Ibid. 17. 

'•^ Ezekiei xviii. 28. ^ Psaim iv. 4. 



152 EXPOSITION OF PSALM CXIX. 

man may maintain a fruitless struggle to return to 
God for many years in sincerity and earnestness ; 
while the simple act of faith in the power and love 
of Jesus luill at once bring him back. Thus while 
thinking on his ivays^' let him walk in Christ as 
the way of return— and he will walk in the way 
of God's testimonies with acceptance and delight. In 
this spirit of simplicity, he will be ready to listen to 
the first whisper of the convincing voice of the Spirit, 
which marks the early steps of secret declension from 
God.i He will also thankfully accept the chastening 
rod as the Lord's appointed instrument of restoring 
his wandering children to himself. For so prone are 
they to turn our feet away from the Lord— so con- 
tinually are they - turning aside like a deceitful 
bow," 2_and so deaf are they from the constitution 
of their sinful nature, to the ordinary calls of God, 
that in love and tender faithfulness to their souls, is 
he often constrained by the stroke of his heavy hind 
to arrest them in their career of thoughtlessness, and 
turn them back to himself. Most suitable then for 
such a state is the prayer of Basil— ^ Give me any 
cross, that may bring me into subjection to thy cross; 
and save me in spite of myself ! ' 

60. / made hmte, and delayed not to keep thy 
commandments. 

With the sincere penitent no time will be lost 
between making resolutions and performing them. 
There is indeed no room for delay. It is a matter 
of life and death— of eternal life and eternal death.- 
Many a precious soul has been lost by waiting for 

' See Isaiah xxx. 21. 2 ^^^^^ IxilyWI 57. 

3 See Deut. xxx. 18. 



VERSE 60. 



15a 



** a more convenient season " ^ — a period, which pro- 
bably may never arrive, and which the wilful neglect 
of present opportunity provokes God to put far away. 
At least no time is so acceptable to God as to-day — 
To-morrow ruins thousands — To-morrow is another 
world. ^' To-day ickile it is called to-day — if ye will 
hear his voice — ''make haste and delay not: 
Resolutions, however sincere, and convictions however 
serious, will " pass away, as the morning cloud and as 
the early dew,^'^ unless they are carefully cherished 
and instantly improved. The bonds of iniquity will 
soon prove too strong for the bonds of yoift own reso- 
lutions ; and in the first hour of temptation, convic- 
tions left to chance to gTow will prove as imable to 
resist the opposition of the enemy, as were the ^' seven 
green withs'^ — to bind the giant Sampson. ^ If ever 
delays are dangerous, much more are they in this 
concern of eternity. If therefore convictions begin 
to work, instantly yield to their influence. If any 
worldly or sinful desire is touched, let this be the 
moment for its crucifixion. If any affection is kindled 
towards the Saviour, give immediate expression to its 
voice. If any grace is reviving, let it be called foith 
into instant duty. This is the best — the only — expe- 
dient to fix and detain the motion of the Spirit noAv 
striving in the heart ; and who knoweth but the im- 
provement of the present advantage may be the moment 
of victory over difficulties hitherto foimd insuperable, 
and may open our path to heaven with less interruption 
and more steady progress ? It is from the neglect 
of this " haste, that convictions in so many instances 
alternately ebb and flow so long before they settle in a 
sound conversion. Indeed it is this instant movemeiit 

^ Acts xxlv. 25, - Heb. iv. 7. 

3 Hosea vi. 4. ^ Judges xvi. 9. 

H 5 



104 EXPOSITION OF PSALM CXIX. 

making haste and delaying not that marks the 
principle of the spiritual life. Thus it was with the 
prodigal. His resolution was no sooner formed than 
in action. He said— I will arise and go to my 
father— and he arose and came to his father.'' i When 
Matthew heard the voice- Follow me,— left all, 
rose up and followed him.^' 2 ^^hen Zaccheus was 
called from the top of the sycamore tree — Make 
haste and come down, for to-day I must abide at thy 
house~Ae made haste and came Aoym, and received 
him joyfully.^' ^ Ah ! as you prize a hope for eter- 
nity; as you wish to flee from the wrath to come/' 
and to " flee for refuge to the hope set before you"— 
beware of .smothering early convictions. They may 
prove the first dawn of eternal day upon the soul— 

the first visit of the quickening spirit to the heart. 

Guard them with unceasing watchfulness. Nourish 
them with believing prayer. Exercise '' them 
" unto^' practical godliness.'' 4 Quench not the 
Spirit." 5 Let not the spark be extinguished by 
opposition of the world. Let it not expire for want 
of the fuel of grace. Let it not lie dormant or inactive, 
" Stir up the gift of God which is in thee." ^ Every 
exercise, every motion, adds grace to grace, increases 
its vigour, health, and fruitfulness. The more we do, 
the more we find we can do. The withered hand, 
whenever stretched forth in obedience to the Saviour's 
word, and in dependence on his grace, will never fail 
of a supply of spiritual strength. 7 Every successive 
act strengthens the disposition, until a continued 
succession has formed the habit of the soul, ready 

1 Luke XV. 18—20. - Ibid. v. 27, 28. 

2 Ibid.xix.5, 6. Comp. also the example of Paul. Gal.i. 15, 16. 
4 1 Tim. iv. 7. 5 1 xhess, v. 19. 

^ 2 Tim. i. 6. 7 Mark ill. 5. 



VERSE 61. loo 

and active for the work of the Lord. Thus the Lord 
works in setting us to v/ork. Therefore think— deter- 
mine — turn — " make haste and delay not;'' and we 
wish you God speed ; " we bless you in the name 
of the Lord."i 

A word to the believer — Have you any doubts to 
clear up, any peace to regain in the ways of the Lord ? 

Make haste " to set your heart to the work. Much 
of the blessings of conviction, and much of the com- 
fortable sense of acceptance, is lost by delay. Much 
of the freedom of the Lord's service is sacrificed to 
sloth and procrastination. The work that is hard to- 
day, will be harder still to-morrow, by the resistance 
of this day's convictions. A greater cost of self-denial, 
a heavier burden of sorrow, and increasing unfitness 
for the service of God, will be the issue of delay. 
Be continually therefore looking for some beam of 
light to descend, and some influence of grace to flow 
in from your exalted Head upon your soul ; and you 
shall not be disappointed of your hope." The love, 
delight, rejoicing in the Lord, readiness to do, and 
cheerfulness to sufl'er in the ways of God — these 
blessed consolations are the hundred-fold," ^ which 
the Saviour has promised as an abundant compensation 
for all our trials for his sake ; and which a simple and 
vigorous faith will richly supply. 

61. The bands of the wicked have robbed me; but I 
have not forgotten thy law. 

Few of us perhaps have been literally exposed 
to the trials to which David here refers ; ^ but the 
lesson to be learnt from his frame of mind under this 



^ Psalm cxxix. 8. - Matt. xix. 29. ^ See 1 Sam. xxx. 1 — 3. 



156 EXPOSITION OF PSALM CXIX. 

calamity is of great importance to all, who profess 
to have their treasure in heaven/' It teaches us, 
that faith and love will be put to the trial by worldly 
troubles; and that only exercised faith will sustain 
our souls. This faith will enable us instantly to 
recollect our heavenly portion, and to assure our 
interest in it, in a remembrance of the law of our 
God. Had David forgotten God's law/' no other 
resource of comfort opened before him. But it was 
ready— substantiating to his mind " the things that 
were not seen and eternal." i We have a New^esta- 
ment example bearing upon this point, and teaching 
lis, not only how to bear losses, but even how to forget 
them in th^ enjoyment of a better portion. See the 
estimate which St. Paul deliberately made upon this 
very trial ; " Yea, doubtless, and I count all things 
but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Chrilt 
Jesus my Lord, for ichom I have suffered the loss 
of all things ; and do count them but dung, that I maij 
win Christ:' 2 The temper of mind under such trials 
as this, serves indeed most clearly to discover the 
real bent of the heart. If we are in possession of a 
spiritual and heavenly portion, we shall bear to be 
robbed by the bands of the wicked," and yet hold 
fast our profession." David, under this calamity, 
encouraged himself in the Lord his God." 3 Job, 
under the same visitation, " fell down upon the ground 
and worshipped." 4 The mercies indeed we lose are 
but as a feather, compared with the mercies which 
we retain. The prospects of the children of God 
(not to speak of their present privileges) effectually 
secure them from ultimate loss, even in the spoil- 
ing of their worldly all. 5 Thus the early Christians 

^ 2 Cor. iv. 18. Heb. xi. 1. 2 p^i]. ^ g. 3 i Sam. xxx. 6. 
Job 1. 13— 17, 20. 5 SeeMarkx. 29, 30, 



VERSE 61. 



157 



suffered ^'the bands of the wicked to rob them'' — 
They took joyfully the spoiling of their goods, 

knowing in themselves that they had in heaven a better 
and an enduring substance, ^ We have indeed little 
reason to be frightened from religion by the anticipa- 
tion of the trouble, to which it may expose us. In 
making exchange of the world for God, and the ser- 
vices of sin for the ways of heaven, we shall find no 
room left for regret in life, in death, or in eternity. 
The darkest hour of the believer is ten thousand 
times brighter than the brightest day of the ungodly. 
The hope of the crov/n will enable us to bear the 
cross, and to realize its sanctifying support as a mat- 
ter for unbounded praise. But those who in this world 
of trouble are utterly ignorant of the all-suiEciency 
of the Gospel refuge ; instead of being driven to it 
by the gracious visitations of God, are ready to retreat 
into any hiding place of their own, rather than direct 
their steps backward to him. Pitiable and desolate 
as their circumstances of distress must be, surely they 
ai'e most intensely aggravated by the sullen rebellion 
of the heart, which refuses to listen to those breathings 
of the Saviour's love, that would guide them to him- 
self, as their sure, and peaceful, and eternal rest ! - 
Would that we could persuade them to cast their 
souls in penitence and faith before his blessed cross ! ^ 
The burden of sin, as Bunyan's pilgrim found, would 
then drop from their backs. And this burden once 
removed — other burdens before intolerable w^ould be 
found comparatively light; nay— all burdens would 
be removed in the enjoyment of the Christian privi- 
lege of casting all — sin — care— and trouble — upon 
Jesus. Contrast the state of destitution without him, 



1 Heb. X. 34. 



2 See Matt. xi. 28. 



3 1 Peter V. 7. 



158 EXPOSITION OF PSALM CXIX. 

with the abundant resources of the people of God. 
They are in the present possession of a joy which 
no man taketh from them ; " i and they have 'Maid 
up treasure in heaven/' where the bands of the 
wicked can never break through nor steal/' 2 Chris- 
tian ! Does not your faith realize a subsistence in 
things not seen ? The only realities in the appre- 
hension of the world are - the things that are seen 
and are temporal/' Your realities are ''the things 
that are not seen and are eternal." Then remember 
— if you be robbed of your earthly all, your treasure 
is beyond the reach of harm. You still are able to 
say— '^ I have all and abound." 3 You can live splen- 
didly upon, your God, though all is beggary around 
you. The remembrance of the law of your God is 
an unfailing stay to your soul, and you are ready to 
acknowledge-- Unless thy law had been my delight, 
1 should then have perished in my affliction,'' 

62. At jnidnight I will rise to give thanks unto thee ; 
because of thy righteous judgments. 

There was no occasion for the painful restrictions 
and mortifications of a monastery to oblige this holy 
man to severe and self-denying observances. 3Iuch 
less was there any desire, by these extraordinary ser- 
vices, to work out a righteousness of his own, to 
recommend him to the favour of God. His dihgence 
in this heavenly employment was the spontaneous 
effusion of a heart - filled with the Spirit." 5 Seven 
times a day" 6 ^as not enough for him ; but he must 
rise ''at midnight'' to continue his song of praise. 

3 ' Matt. vi. 20. 

Phil. IV. 18, also 2 Cor. vi. 10. ^ Ver^- 92 
^ Ephes. V. IS. 6 See Verse 164. 



VERSE 62. 159 

These hours sometimes had been spent in overwhelm- 
ing sorrow.i ]Nfow they were given to the exercise and 
enjoyment of praise. Indeed it seems to have been 
his custom habitually to excite the glow of gratitude 
in his soul by beginning the midnight hour with 
a review of the manifestations of the goodness of God 
throughout the day. ^ What a useful example for 
our imitation ! and what a sweet employment for the 
wearisome nights," when the child of sorrow ''is 
full of tossings to and fro unto the dawning of the 
day ! " ^ Often should we then understand the suit- 
ableness of the exhortation — " Let the saints be joyful 
in glory ; let them sing aloud upon their beds,'^ ^ Let 
us look at another picture of Christian enjoyment, 
under similar circumstances — " At midnight, Paul and 
Silas prayed, and sang praises to God,'' ^ — they gave 
thanks because of his righteous judgment s,^^ 

We often complain of our want of spirituality in 
the divine life— how much our body hinders the ascent 
of the soul heavenwards— how often drowsiness over- 
comes our evening communion with our God ; the 
''weakness of the flesh" overpowering the "willing- 
ness of the Spirit." ^ But after making all due allow- 
ances for constitutional infirmity, it may be well to 
inquire, how far we are " instant in season and out ot 
season " in the mortification of the flesh.7 Do we 
earnestly seek for a heart delighting in heavenly things ? 
The more the flesh is denied for the service of God, 
the more we shall be elevated for the enjoyment, and 
realize the privilege, of the work ; and, instead of 
having so often to mourn that our " souls cleave unto 

1 See Psalm Ixxvii. 3, 4. ' ^ Ibid, cxxxix. 17, 18. 

3 Job vii. 3, 4. Psalm cxlix. 5. 

^ Actsxvi. 25. ^ Matt. xxvi. 41. 

7 1 Cor. ix. 27. 



160 EXPOSITION OF PSALM CXIX. 

the dust/M shall be able to - mount up%yard^ 
^vlth eagles- whigs,- ^ and even now by anticipation, 
to take our place before - the throne of God and 
tlie Lamb.'^ And need we remark the active influence 
of self-denial in exercising our oTaces. and promotino- 
our comfort ? Oh ! how much more fervent would 
o^jr prayer be— how much more fruitful in blessino-s— 
were they enlivened with more abundant delioht in 
the angelical work of praise.3 The theme is^ even 
Fesent before us. That which employs the son^ of 
heaven should constantly engage our songs on earth 
—Jesus and his love— the worthiness ot^the Lamb 
that was slain— his - power, and riches, and wisdom, 
and strengtli, and honour, and glory, and blessing." ^ 
3Iidnight wakefulness would be Var sweeter than 
slumber ; yea, night itself would be turned to day, 
were it thus employed in the gTateful recollection 
of the judgments of God/' as manifested in the 
glory of the Saviour.^ Lord, tune my heart to thy 
praise— and then no time will be unseasonable for 
this blessed employment. Time that is redeemed 
from sleep will be an antepast of the restless service 
of heaven.^ 

63. / am a compamon of all them that fear thee, and 
of them that keep thy precepts. 

Those that fear the Lord'' will ever be iden- 
tified with - those who keep his precepts " ' as the 
child testifies his filial fear by cheerful and implicit 
obedience to his father's will. They are then the 
Lord^'s people; and union with the Lord will naturally 

^ Verse 25. - Isaiah si. 3i, 3 Baxter 

' Rev. V. 12. _ 5 3^ ^ ^^.^ 

' Compare Psalm ci:i. 17^ IS. 



VERSE G3. 161 

form a bond of union with them. Their identity of 
taste and pursuits will bind them to each other with 
a cord of love and fellowship, that " is not quickly 
broken. " ^ Perhaps, however, here the Christian 
may be occasionally called to some sacrifice of his 
own taste and inclination. The worldly society of his 
own sphere may be of a more refined and intelligent 
character, and more accordant to the cast of his own 
mind. But will he not, or ought he not to say — 
" Surely the fear of God is not in this place ; " - and 
should I love them that hate the Lord ? " ^ It 
would be well that Christians living in close, and to 
a certain degree necessary, contact with the world, 
should subject their hearts to an evening scrutiny on 
this subject—' Have I felt fellowship of spirit ^ with 
the world to-day ? Has the society of this day re- 
freshed my soul ? Has it raised my heart to spiritual 
things ? Has it exercised a watchful temper ? Or 
has it not rather quenched the spirit" of prayer, 
and thrown me back from communion with God ? ' 
The duties of our profession, or the leadings of provi- 
dence, bring us indeed into unavoidable connexion 
with those, who " have no fear of God before their 
eyes." Nor are we called to afi*ect a sullen silence, 
or to violate the rules of courtesy ^ in our attempts 
to force religion upon their attention. But such men, 
whatever be their attractions, will not be the com- 
panions of our choice.— To feel fellowship with them, 
is to ''remove the ancient land-mark ; to forget 
the broad line of separation between us and them ; 
and to venture into the atmosphere of most imminent 
dano:er. If indeed our hearts were ascending, like a 
flame of fire, with a natural motion heavenwards, and 

1 Eccles. iv. 12. - Gen. xx. 1 1 . ^ 2 Chron.xix.2. 

See 2 Cor. vi. 14, 15. ^ See 1 Pet. iii. 8. ^ Prov. xxii. 28. 



162 EXPOSITION OF PSALM CXIX. 

carrying with them all in their way, it would be a 
matter of little importance to ourselves, who might 
be the companions of our walk. But so deadening 
to our spiritual constitution is the conversation of the 
men of this world, (however commanding their talents, 
or however interesting their topics) that even, if we 
have been just before enlivened by the high privileges 
of communion with God, the free and self-indulgent 
interchange of their society will benumb our spiritual 
powers, and quickly freeze them again. To under- 
rate therefore the privileged association with " them 
that fear God,'' is to incur— not only a most awful 
responsibility in the sight of God, but also a most 
serious hazard to our own souls. If then we are not 
ashamed to confess ourselves Christians, let us not 
shrink from walking in fellowship with Christians. 
Even if they should exhibit some repulsive features 
of character, they bear the image of him, whom we 
profess to love inexpressibly and incomparably above 
all. They will be our companions in an eternal home : 
they ought therefore to be our brothers now. How 
sweet, and holy, and heavenly, is this near relation to 
them in our common Lord ! Well may we consent 
to his judgment, who pronounced " the righteous to 
be more excellent than his neighbour '^i since those 
who have tasted the benefit of Christian communion 
have found it beyond all price. " Iron sharpeneth 
iron." 2 If then - the iron be blunt," this will be 
one of the best means of whetting the edge. "3 
The most established Christians gladly acknowledge 
the sensible refreshment derived from this union of 
heart. 4 It is marked in the word of God as one 
of the channels of the communication of heavenly 

1 Prov. xii. 26. 2 Ibid, xxvii. 17. s See Eccl. x. 10 
Comp. Acts xxviii. 15. Rom. i. 11, 12. 2 Cor. vii. 6 7. 



VERSE 64. l^ti 

wisdom 1— as a feature in the character of the citizens 
of Zion2— and as that disposition, which is distin- 
guished with manifest tokens of the Saviour's pre- 
sence,3 and will finally be crowned with the special 
seal of remembrance at the great day— " They that 
feared the Lord, spake often one to another ; and the 
Lord hearkened and heard '' it ; " and a book of 
remembrance was written before him for them that 
feared the Lord, and that thought upon his name. 
And they shall he mive, saith the Lord of Hosts, in 
that day, when I make up my jewels." ^ 

64. The earth, O Lord, is full of thy mercy ; teach me 

thy statutes. 

What a picture does the earth present on every 
side— ''>ZZ of the mercy of the Lord I " How re- 
freshing is the prospect to a spiritual eye ! What 
an excitement to praise !— O Lord, how manifold 
are thy works ! in wisdom hast thou made them all. 
The earth is full of thy riches. The eyes of all wait 
upon thee, and thou givest them their meat in due 
season. Thou openest thine hand, and satisfiest the 
desire of every living thing.'' ^ And what an en- 
couragement does the contemplation of the Lord's 
mercy in providence afford to the exercise of faith, 
in the expectancy of spiritual privileges—'' O Lord! 
thou preservest man and beast. How excellent is 
thy loving-kindness, O God ! therefore the children 
of men put their trust under the shadow of thy wing. 
They shall be abundantly satisfied with the fatness 

. 1 Prov. xiii. 20. 
- Psalm XV. 1, 4. Comp. Psalm xvi. 3, and especially 1 John iii. 14. 
3 Luke xxiv. 15, 32. Mai. iii. 16, 17. 

^ Psalm civ. 24; cxlv. 15, 16. 



164 EXPOSITION OF PSALM CXIX. 

of thy house ; and thou shalt make them drink of 
the river of thy pleasures/^ i ' As thou dost largely 
bestow thy blessings upon all creatures according to 
their nature and condition, so I do desire the spiritual 
blessings of the lively light of thy law and word, 
which are fitting and convenient for the bein^ and 
happiness of my soul.' ^ ^s an ignorant sinner,— 
what I see not, teach thou me." s Teach me 
thy statutes ''—that which thou hast appointed as 
the way of duty, and the path to glory— that path 
which I am utterly unable to discover, or when 
discovered, to walk in, without the help of thy gTace. 
And indeed the hearts of his people are the vessels, 
into which the Lord is continually pouring more and 
more of himself, until they shall '^'^ be filled with all 
the fulness of God." * E^^ry good, accordino^ to its 
character and degree, is diffusive. And thus the 
goodness or mercy of God is represented as pervading 
the whole universe of his creation, and more especially 
filling the hearts of his people. It is natural, plenti- 
ful— free— communicative.^ Yet none but a believer 
will understand how to use the plea which is here 
employed. The mercy that he sees on every side, is 
to him a pledge and earnest of that mercy which his 
soul needs within. The world indeed in its present 
fallen state, when seen through the medium of pride 
and discontent, exhibits a picture, of misery, not of 

. ■ ^ Psalm xxxvi. 6—8. 

- Diodati. ' It is ^Yorthy of special notice, how often, and in 
what varied connections, David in this Psalm prays to be taught 
the statutes of God, though he seems to have been more intimately 
acquamted with the sacred oracles, as then extant, than almost any 
ocher man; but he knew that divine teaching alone could enable 
him rightly to understand the scriptures, and to applv general rules 
of his life ^—S%f ""^^^^ occurred^ in the course 

3 Job xxxiv. 32. ^ Eph. iii. 19, 5 Yej-sg gg^ 



VERSE 64. 165 

mercy; and only ministers occasion for complaint 
against the Creator. But the believer— feeling the 
infinite and eternal desert of sin— cannot but know 
that the lowest exercise of g,oodness in God is an act 
of free undeserved mercy. Xo wonder then that he 
sees mercy in every thing— in every part of the uni- 
verse of God— a world ''full of mercy:' The very 
food we eat, our raiment, our habitations, the con- 
trivances for our comfort, are not mere displays 
of goodness, but manifestations of mercy. Having 
forfeited all claim upon the smallest consideration 
of God, there could have been no just ground of com- 
plaint, had all these blessings been made occasions 
of suifering instead of comfort and indulgence. And 
then the question naturally recurs, and to a spiritual 
mind will never weary by its recurrence — ^ Whence 
flows all this mercy ? Oh ! it is delightful indeed 
to answer such an inquiry — delightful to contemplate 
him, " in whom'' we are not only " blessed with all 
spiritual blessings,'' ^ but who is also the medium 
through which our temporal comforts are conveyed 
to us. How sweet to eye these mercies, as bought 
with the most precious blood that ever was known in 
the world, and to mark the print of the nails of our 
crucified Friend stamped upon the least of them ! 
We allow it to add a relish to our enjoyments, that 
we can consider them as provided by some beloved 
friend ; and should not our mercies be doubly sweet 
in the remembrance of that munificent Friend, who 
purchased them for us so dearly, who bestows them 
upon us so richly, yea, who gives himself with them 
all ? 

Have we heard of this mercy of God? And do we 



1 Epbesians i. 3. 



Ibb EXPOSITION OF PSALM CXIX. 

feel the need of it for ourselyes— for every moment ? 
Then let us apply to the throne of grace in the gospel 
way of acceptance and access. Let us go to the Kins: 
(3.S Benhadad's servants to the king of fsrael in the 
spirit of self-condemnation and faith. Our acceptance 
does not depend (as in the case referred to) upon a 
peradventure ; but it rests upon the sure word of 
promise—'^ Him that cometh to me, / 2vill in no ivise 
cast out J' 2 



^ Compare 1 Kings xx. 31. 



- John vi. 37. 



VERSE 65. 167 



PART IX. 

65. Thou hast dealt well icith thy servant, Lord, 
according unto thy word. 

Perhaps David is here acknowledging the Lord's 
answer to his prayer— -De«Z hountifidly ivith thy 
servant.'' i— Thou hast dealt well w'ith thy servant, 

Lord, according unto thy u'o/tZ/'— And who among 
us has not daily reason to make the same acknovrledg- 
ment ? Even in those trials, when we have almost 
been disposed to suspect the Lord of dealing hardly 
with us, a clearer view of his judgments, and a more 
simple dependence upon his faithfulness and love, will 
rebuke our impatience and unbelief, and encourage 
our trust in God.^ Subsequent experience probably 
altered Jacob's hasty view of the Lord's dealings 
with him. In a moment of peevishness, the recol- 
lection of the supposed death of a beloved son and 
the thi-eatened bereavement of another, tempted him 
to say — All these things are against me." ^ At a 
brighter period of his day, when clouds were be- 
ginning to disperse, we hear that the spirit of Jacob 
revived — And Jacob said. It is enough; Joseph my 

1 Verse 17. 

- * If all the sad losses, trials, sicknesses, infirmities, griefs, 
heaviness, and inconstancy of the creature be expounded to be, as 

1 am sure they are, the rods of the jealousy of a Father in heaven, 
contending with all your lovers on earth ; though there were 
millions of them, for your love, to fetch it home to heaven, single, 
unmixed, you will forgive, (if we may use that word) every 
rod of God, and "not let the sun go down upon your wrath" 
against any messenger of your afflicting and correcting Father/ — 
Rutherford's Letters. ' " ^ Gen. xlii. 36. 



168 EXPOSITION OF PSALM CXIX. 

son is yet alive, I vrill go and see him before I die." i 
And when his evening sun was going down almost 
without a cloud, he was ready ^vith a yet more clear 
acknowledgment of the faithfulness of his gTacious God 
— ''By faith Jacob, when he was dying, blessed both 
the sons of Joseph/' 2 And what had he then to say, 
but to retract the language of his former sinful im- 
patience ?— "God before whom my fathers, Abraham 
and Isaac, did walk,— the God which fed me all my life 
long, unto this day, — the Angel which redeemed me from 
all evil, bless the lads.*' ^ Xhis surely was in the true 
spirit of the acknowledgment—'^ Thou hast dealt icell 
icith thy servant, Lord, according to thy tcord,'' 

And how is it that any of us have ever harboured a 
suspicion .of unbelief ? Has God in any one instance 
falsified his promise ? Has the vision failed to come at 
the end ? Has it ever " lied ? " ^ jjas he not '' con- 
firmed his promise by an oath," so that we might have 
''two immutable things'" as the gTound of ''strong 
consolation ? " ^ If have faith and patience to wait, 
" in the mount the Lord shall be seen." 6 All things " 
may seem to be "against us," at the vers' time when 
under the wonder-working hand of God they are 
" working together for our good." T ^^Tien we " are in 
heavmess through manifold temptations," and we dis- 
cover a '^ needs be " for it all, and " the ti'ial of faith 
is found unto praise and honour and gloiy"8 — have we 
not cause to say—" Thou hast dealt well with thy 
sei-cant, Lord? " And when we begin to reap " the 
peaceful fruits of riohteousness," 5 from the discipline 
of our Father's school, must we not again repeat the 

1 Gen. xlv. 27, 28. 2 jjeb. xi. 21. 

3 Gen. xlviii. 15, 16. 4 Hab. ii. 3. 

Heb. vi. 17, 18. ^ Gen. xxii. 14. See Scott in loco. 

' Rom. viii. 28. s ^ p^j.. j. 7, 9 Heb. xii. 1 1 . 



VERSE 65. 169 

acknowledgment ? And indeed under every circum- 
stance, however afflictive, ought this testimony to be 
given. ^ Why not in the very midst of heaviness ? " 
Why must the believer wait till he come out of it, to 
own the loving kindness of his God ? The power of 
faith has enabled many, and would enable him, to 
^' glorify God in the fires ; ^ ^o trust him, even 
when walking in darkness, and having no light ; " ^ 
and to acknowledge him to have dealt well 2vitk 
him,'^ even in his chastening dispensations. 

But if he doubts the reasonableness of this acknow- 
ledgment, then let him endeavour to take up different 
language. Let him, when suffering under trial, attempt 
to say—' Lord, thou hast dealt ill with thy servant ; 
thou hast not kept thy word.' If in a moment of un- 
belief his impatient heart, like Jacob's, could harbour 
such a dishonourable suspicion, his conscience would 
soon smite him with conviction. ^Vhat ! shall I — 
who am called out of darkness into marvellous 
light — shall I, who am rescued from slavery and 
death, and brought into a glorious state of liberty and 
life, complam ? Shall I— who have been redeemed 
at so great a price, and who have a right to all the 
promises of God in Christ Jesus,'' ^ and who am now 
an ''heir of God and joint heir with Christ " ^ — 
murmur at my Father's will ? Alas ! that my heart 
should prove so foolish — so weak — so ungrateful ! 
Lord ! I would acknowledge with thankfulness and 
yet with humiliation—" Thou hast dealt tvell with 
thy servant, according to thy word. But if these 
acknowledgments are honourable to God and sup- 

1 Verses 71,75. * ' In every thing f therefore including affliction ) 
by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving," &c. Phil. iv. 6. 
Compare also 1 Thess. v. 18. 

' Isaiah xxiv. 15. 3 

^ 2 Cor. i. 20. ^ ^^^^^ ^-^j^ 

I 



170 



EXPOSITION OF PSALM CXIX. 



porting to our ov^n faith, how many sweet occasions 
of calling to mind the Lord's mercies are lost by our 
own neglect ! IT ere we habitually to mark them for 
future remembrance, we should be surprised to see 
how their numbers would multiply, till we were ready 
to say — If I should count them, they are more in 
number than the sand/^ ^ And truly such recollec- 
tions would come up as a sweet savour to God by 
Chi'ist Jesus ; " - while they would serve to enhance 
every common as well as every special mercy — Bless 
the Lord, O my soul, and all that is ivithin me bless 
his holy name, and forget not all his benefits." ^ 



66. Teach me good judgment and knowledge ; for I 
have believed thy commandments. 

This prayer and plea of David illustrates the 
nature of the principle of faith, as ever ready im- 
plicitly to receive the Record of God, and habitually 
supplicating Divine instruction. The recollections just 
brought to mind of the Lord's faithful and gTacious 
dealings with his people will always excite to prayer 
for suitable blessings. And no blessings are more 
suitable than good judgment and knoicledge " — 
" hioiu ledge of ourselves, of our Saviour, of the way 
of obedience— and good judgment to direct and 
apply this knowledge to some valuable end. These 
two parts of our intellectual furniture have a most 
important connexion and dependence upon each other. 
" Knowledge " is the speculative perception of general 
truth. " Judgment " is the practical application of it 
to the heart and conduct. Xo school, but the school 
of Christ—no teaching, but the teaching of the Spirit, 

^ Psalm cxxxix. 18, ^ Heb. xiii, 15. ^ Psalra ciii. l, 2. 



VERSE 66. 



171 



can ever give this good judgment and knowledge." 
Solomon asks it for himself ^ — Paul for his people.^ 
Both direct us to God as the sole fountain and author 
of these precious gifts. Much indeed do we need 
these blessings in the study of the word of God. 
In a field of such vast extent we should not satisfy 
ourselves with a narrow compass ; but should be 
grasping a distinct and extended survey of those 
truths, which are so intimately connected with our 
way of acceptance and walk before God. From the 
want of an accurate and enlarged view of Scriptural 
truth arise many of those doubts, discouragements, 
and fears, that perplex the minds of sincere Christians 
— many of their mistaken apprehensions of important 
doctrines — and much also of their coldness and back- 
slidings of heart and conduct. 

Perhaps the Christian, whose mind is cast in a tender 
and sensitive mould, could not utter a more suitable 
prayer than this. A scrupulous conscience is one of 
the most active and successful enemies to his established 
peace and quietness.* The faculty of conscience par- 

1 Kings iii. 9. 2 p^^^ ^ 9^ Coi g. 

2 Prov. ii. 6. 1 Cor. i. 5. 2 Tim. i. 7. It is recorded of one 
of the Reformers, tiiat when he had acquitted himself in a public 
disputation with great credit to his Master's cause, a friend begged 
to see the notes, which he had been observed to write, supposing 
that he had taken down the arguments of his opponents, and 
sketched the substance of his ov;n reply. Greatly was he surprised 
to find that his notes consisted simply of these ejacuiatory petitions 
■ — 'More light, Lord, — more hght, — more light ! ' And how fully 
was the true spirit of prayer compressed and illustrated in these 
short aspirations ! Could' they fail of success ? ''If any of you 
lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men Uberahy, 
and upbraideth not; and it shall he given him." James i. 5. 
Greenham, being asked his judgment of some important matters, 
— answered — ' Sir, neither am 1 able to speak, nor you to hear ; 
for we have not prayed. 1 may indeed talk, and you may answer 
as natural men ; but we are not now prepared, to confer as children 
of God.' Works, p. 19. 

' Scruple '—as Bishop Taylor tersely observes — * is a little stone 

I 2 



172 



EXPOSITION OF PSALM CXIX. 



takes with every other power of man of the injury 
of the fall ; and therefore, with all its intelligence, 
honesty, and power, is liable to misconception. Like 
a defect of vision, it often displaces objects ; and in 
apparently conflicting duties — that which touches the 
feeling, or accords with the temper, is prefened to one, 
which, though more remotely viewed, really possessed 
a higher claim. Thus it pronounces its verdict from 
the predominance of feeling, rather than from the 
exercise of judgment — more from an indistinct per- 
ception of the subject presented to the mind, than 
from a simple immediate reference to the law and 
testimony." Again — matters of trivial moment are 
often insisted upon to the neglect of important prin- 
ciples. ^ External points of offence are more considered 
than the habitual mortification of the inward principle. 
Conformity to the world in dress and appearance is 
marked with stronger censure than the general spirit 
of worldliness in the temper and conduct of outward 
non- conformists ; while the spirit of separation from 
tlie world ( which may exist in a somewhat wider range 
of Christian liberty than the narrow perception of 
some professors has conceived" ) is totally disregarded. 
Thus are non-essentials often confounded with funda- 
mentals — things indifferent with things unlawful, from 
a narrow misconception of what is directly forbidden 

in the foot. If you set it on the ground, it hurts you. If you 
hold it up, you cannot go forward. It is a trouble, vrhen trouble 
is over; a doubt, when doubts are resolved ; a little party behind 
the hedge, when the main army is broken and cleared ; and when 
conscience is instructed in its way, and girt for action, a light 
trifling reason, or an absurd fear hinders it from beginning the 
journey, or proceedmg in the way, or resting at the journey's 
end.' Duct. Dubitant. Book I. Chap. vi. See Calvin's lively 
description of scrupulosity in Scott's Analysis of his Institutes. — 
Continuation of Milner, lii. 563. 

1 Col. ii. 18. 2 i Qqj.^ yjij^ 4^ 7^ 



VERSE 66. 



173 



and allowed. ^ Conscience therefore cannot be safely 
trusted without the light of the word of God ; and 
most important is the prayer — " Teach me good judg- 
ment and knowledge J ^ 

The exercises of this state of feeling are both endless 
and causeless. In the well-intended endeavour to guard 
against a devious track, the mind is constantly harassed 
with an over- anxious inquiry, whether the right path is 
accurately discovered ; and thus at once the pleasure 
and the progTess of the journey are materially hindered. 
The influence therefore of this morbid sensibility is 
strenuously to be resisted. It renders the strait way 
more strait. It retards the work of gTace in the soul. It 
is usually connected with self-righteousness. It savours 
of, and tends to produce, hard thoughts of God. It 
damps our cheerfulness in his service, and unfits us for 
the duty of the present moment. What however is more 
than all to be deprecated, is, that it multiplies sin ; or, 
to speak more clearly, it superinduces another species of 
sin, besides the actual transgression of the law of God. 
For opposition to the dictates of conscience, in any par- 
ticular, is sin, even though the act itself may be allowed 
by the law of God. We may therefore sin in the act of 
doing good, or in obedience to the liberty and enjoyment 
of the gospel, as well as in the allowed transgression of 
the sacred law. Indeed under the bondage of a scru- 
pulous conscience we seem to be entangled in the sad 
necessity of sinning. The dictates of conscience, even 
luhen grounded upon misconception, are authoritative/-^ 
Listening to its suggestions may be sinning against the 
liberty wherewith Christ has made us " free,'' and in 

^ ' Measuring actions by atoms is the ^vay — not to govern, but 
to disorder — conscience.' Bisiiop Taylor, at supra. 

- See Rom.xiv. 14, " To liim that es'teemeth anything to he unclean 
(though clean by the express appointment of God." Acts x. 9 — 15. 
1 Tim, iv. 3 — 5, and only " unclean " therefore by the misconception 

I 3 



174 EXPOSITION OF PSALM CXIX. 

which we are commanded to " stand fast."^ Resistance 
to its voice is disobedience to God's ricegerent, and 
therefore, in a qualified sense at least, disobedience to 
God himself. And thus sin is committed, even when 
that which conscience condemns may be innocent.^ 

The evil of a scrupulous conscience may be traced 
to a diseased temperament of body, to a naturally 
weak understanding, or to the unfavourable influence 
of early prejudice. The faith, though weak, is sin- 
cere ; and the sin, such as it is, is a sin of infirmity, 
calling for our pity, forbearance, prayer, and help. 
In a majority of instances, however, wilful ignorance, 
false shame that will not inquire, or an obstinate and 
pertinacious adherence to deep-rooted opinion, is the 
source of the disease. Xow such persons must be 
roused, even though the attempt to rouse them should 
be attended with the hazard of woundino; the conscience 
of the more tenderly scrupulous. But as the one 
class decidedly sin, and the other too frequently in- 
dulge their infirmity, the excitement will probably not 
be without its ultimate benefit to both. We would 
suggest then to both the importance of having the 
conscience enlightened— and seeking ''a right juds^- 
ment in all things'' — by a more diligent " search in 
the Scriptures" — by ''seeking the law at the mouth 
of the priest — and, above all, by earnest prayer with 
the Psalmist — " Teach me good judgment and know- 
ledge. ''^ If whatsoever is not of faith is sin,'' then 
the only prospect of the removal of the doubt will be 

of conscience) " to him it is unclean — i. e.- — he ?nust not t&u-ch it 
upon the ground of conscience — though the Gospel allowed the use 
of it, and it was an infringement of Christian liberty to abstain from 
it. Thus did his ignorance make to himself an occasion of sin, 

1 Gal. V. 1, with iv. 9, 10. - Compare Pv.om. xiv. 20 — 23. 

3 Mai. ii. 7. See the example of the primitive church. Acts 
XV. 1, 2. 



VERSE 06. 175 

increase of faith, to be sought and expected as at the 
firsl^'' by hearing, and hearing by the word of God." ^ 
It may perhaps be true that " there is not in every 
one this knowledge ; - yet the exhortation speaks 
alike to all — " Grow in gTace, and in the knowledge 
of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ." ^ Indeed, 
we cannot altogether discharge the most favourable 
symptoms of scrupulosity (except where the disease 
originates in external causes) from the guilt of wilful 
ignorance ; because none can strictly be said sincerely 
to ask for good judgment and knowledge,^' who do 
not diligently improve all means of obtaining it. If 
therefore the scrupulous shrink from honestly seeking 
the resolution of their difficulties in private confer- 
mces (where they are to be had) with ministers or 
experienced Christians, so far they may be considered 
as wilfully ignorant. We know our duty — to " bear 
with their infirmities ; " ^ but we know also, that, 
hard as their bondage is, no other relief can be expect- 
ed but in the way of increased diligence, humility, and 
prayer. Under any hesitation concerning the path 
of duty, let them therefore wait, inquire, and pray, 
until their way be made plain. Having done this, 
let them act according to their conscience, allowing 
nothing that it condemns, neglecting nothing which 
it requires. The responsibility of error (should error 
be eventually detected) will not be— the too implicit 
following of the guidance of conscience — but the want 
of due care and diligence for its more clear illumination. 
Generally, however, the rule will apply — " If thine 
eye be single, thy whole body shall be full of light." ^ 

^- Rom. X. 17. ^ 1 Cor. viii. 7. 

3 2 Peter iii. 18. ^ Rom. xiv. 1 ; xv. 1. 

^ Matt. vi. 22. Comp. Prov. xxiv. 5. For a similar view of this 
case, see Baxter's Christian Directory, Book i. Chap. iii. The 
sacrifices appointed for sins of ignorance under the law, (Lev. iv. j 



176 EXPOSITION OF PSALM CXIX. 

But, besides the scrupulous conscience, the imper- 
fectly enlightened conscience presents a case equally 
to be deprecated. Often does it charge the incessant 
variations of feeling to a sinful source, when they have 
really originated in bodily indisposition, or accidental 
mfluence of temptation. Sins of infirmity are con- 
founded with sins of indulgence ; occasional with 
habitual transgTessions of duty. Only a part of the 
character is brought under cognizance; and while 
short comings or surprisals are justly condemned, yet 
the influence of contrition, faith, love, and watchful- 
ness, are passed by unnoticed. Thus the gospel 
becomes the very reverse of the appointment of its 
gracious Author, i It brings ashes for beauty, mourn- 
ing for the oil of joy, and the spirit of heaviness for the 
garment of praise. If this evil is ^^not a sin unto 
death,'' it is a sore evil under the sun, which may often 
give occasion for the prayer— Teach me good judg^ 
ment and knowledge ; that, in the path of simplicity 
of faith, I may be blessed with a tender conscience, 
and be delivered from the bondage of a scrupulous, and 
from the perplexity of an unenlightened, conscience. 
Let my heart never condemn me where it ought not. 
Let it never fail to condemn me where it ought. 

Alas! how does our indistinct perception of the 
blessing of this " good judgment and knowledge'' 
restrain our prayer for the light of the Spirit of God ! 
The loveliness, glory, and heavenly character of this 
light is what the natural eye hath not seen, and 
cannot see.'' Let us cry for this with deeper earnest-^ 
ness, and more patient waiting upon God. Its blessed 

marks God's sense of this case ; while the frequent breaches of 
Christian unity and forbearance arising from it may well justify 
this extended consideration of it. 

^ Compare Isaiah ixi. 3. 



VERSE 67. 177 

influence flows unceasingly in increasing knowledge 
and judgment. It is a treasury which does not spend 
by giving. Here we may ask to the utmost extent 
of our wants, and " in full assurance of faith."— But 
this faith is the principle of Gospel obedience. Walk- 
incr therefore in the obedience of faith " — "believing 
God's commandments as well as his promises ; con- 
vinced of their perfection, acknowledging their obli- 
gations, loving them and living in them, we shall 
come to full age " in the knowledge of the Gospel, 
and ''by reason of use have our senses exercised to 
discern good and evil. 

67. Before I was afflicted I ivent astray; but now 
have I kept thy word. 

The seductive temptations of a prosperous state, 
and the too successful hindrances, which it off'ers to 
Christian progress, render the condition of the gay 
and thoughtless among us far more to be dreaded 
than to be envied. Should the Christian, by the 
appointment of God, be thrown into this atmosphere 
of danger, he will feel the prayer that is so often put 
into his lips most peculiarly expressive of his need 
— ' In all time of our ivealth — Good Lord! deliver 
us A time of wealth is indeed a time of especial 

need— such mighty power does it give to Satan's 
temptations, while at the same time it weakens our 
perception of their power. Many and afflicting are 
the instances recorded of its baneful influence on the 
Lord's people 3 — while its unmitigated curse in the 

1 Heb. V. 14. - Litany. 

The histories of David, 1 Chron. xxi. 1—4 ; Solomon, 1 Kings 
xi. 1— 8 ; Uzziah, 2 Chron. xxvi. 16; and Hezekiah, 2 Chron. 
xxxii. 25—32; will readily occur to the mind. 

1 5 



178 EXPOSITION OF PSALM CXIX. 

experience of the ungodly is written as with a sunbeam 
for our warning— When Jeshurun . waxed fat, he 
kicked. I spake unto thee in thy prosperity ; but 
thou saidst, I will not hear."i But how awful will 
be the period, when the question shall speak to the 
conscience with all the poignancy of self-conviction— 
" What fruit had ye then in those things whereof ye 
are now ashamed ? What is the end of this flowery 
path? - Death! -Surely thou didst set them 
in slippery places : thou castest them down into 
destruction. How are they brought into desolation 
as in a moment ! They are utterly consumed with 
terrors ! ''3 Xhe prosperity of fools shall destroy 
them.'' 4 cannot therefore forbear to mark the 

combined wisdom and love manifested in our Saviour's 
allotment for his people—- In the world ye shall have 
tribulation." 5 This is the gTacious rod, by which he 
scourges back his prodigal children to himself. This 
is the wise discipline, by which he preserves them from 
being poisoned with the sweetness of carnal allure- 
ments, and keeps their hearts in a simple direction 
towards himself, as the well-spring of their everlasting 
joy. With all of them this one method has been 
pursued. All have been taught in one school. All 
have known the power of affliction in some of its varied 
forms of inward conflict or outward trouble ; and the 
experience, derived from this source, has given abun- 
dant evidence, that the pains bestowed upon them 
have not been in vain. ' Xoiv''—\s each of them 
ready to say — - iVozi; have I kept thy word." I 
never prized it before. I could indeed scarcely be 
said to know it. I never understood its comfort, until 



1 Deut. xxxii. 15. Jer. xxii. 21. -Rom. vi. 21. 

2 Psalm Ixxiii. 18, 19. 4 Prov. i. 32. 

^ John xvi. 33. Acts xiv. 22. 



VERSE 67. 179 

affliction expounded it to me. I never till now saw 
its suitableness to my case.' Thus it was with 
Manasseh, ''when in affliction he besought the Lord, 
and humbled himself greatly before the Lord God 
of his fathers." ^ Thus also in affliction the Lord 
''heard Ephraim bemoaning himself." ^ The same 
eye, under the same circumstances, now beheld Israel 
" seeking him early/' ^ and the forlorn wandering child 
casting a wishful, penitent look towards his Father's 
house, as if the sinful pleasures, that had enticed his 
heart from home, were now embittered to his soul."^ 

But what an heightened aggravation of guilt, when 
these special and choicest mercies fail of their gracious 
end — when vanity, worldliness, and sin reign as before 
with uncontrolled sway ! Ah ! when sinners are un- 
humbled "under the mighty hand, of God" — w^hen 
they are afflicted, and not purged by affliction — when 
it is said of them— "They received not correction" ^ 
— it seems to be the forerunner of that tremendous 
judgment — " Why should ye be stricken any 
more .^"6 

Heavenly Father ! keep thy poor weak erring child 
from this fearful doom. Let not that measure of pros- 
perity, which thou mayest be pleased to vouchsafe, 
prove my curse. But especially let every cross, every 
affliction, which thou art pleased to mingle in my cup, 
conform me more to my Saviour's image, restrain my 
heart from its daily wanderings, endear thy holy ways 
and word to my soul, and give me sweeter anticipa- 
tions of that blessed home, where I shall never wander 
more, but find my eternal happiness in " keeping thy 



1 2 Chron. xxxiii. 12. Comp. Dan. iv. 36, 37. 
2 Jer. xxxi. 18, 19. ^ Hos. v. 15 ; vi. I, 2. 

^ Luke XV. 16, 17. ^ Zeph. iii. 2. ^ Isa. i. 5. 



180 



EXPOSITION OF PSALM CXIX. 



68. Thou art good, and doest good ; teach me thy 

statutes. 

The blessed effects of chastisement, as a special 
instance of the Lord's goodness, might naturally lead 
to an acknowledgment of his general goodness, in his 
o\m character, and in his unwearied dispensations of 
love. Judging in unbelieving haste of his providential 
and gracious dealings, feeble sense imagines a frown, 
when the eye of faith discerns a smile, upon his face ; 
and therefore in proportion as faith is exercised in the 
review of the past, and the experience of the present, 
we shall be prepared with the ascription of praise— 
" Thou art 'goodJ' This is the true and genuine 
character of God. He is good— He is goodness.— 
Good in himself— good in his essence— good in the 
highest degree. All the names of God are compre- 
hended in this one of Good:' ^ 'AW the acts of 
God are nothing else but the effluxes of his goodness, 
distinguished by several names according to the object 
it is exercised about. When he confers happiness 
without merit, it is grace. When he bestows happi- 
ness against merit, it is mercy. When be bears with 
provoking rebels, it is long-suffering. When he per- 
forms his promise, it is truth. When he commiserates 
a distressed person, it is pity. When he supplies an 
indigent person, it is bounty. When he succours an 
innocent person, it is righteousness. And when he 
pardons a penitent person, it is mercy. All summed 

1 The revelation of the goodness " of God was made to Moses 
m Qirect answer to his prayer— " I beseech thee, show me thy 
glory "—evidently marking his goodness" to be not a single 
attribute, or a display of any particular feature of the Divine 
character, but rather to consist in the combined exercise of aU his 
perfections. Exod. xxxiii. 18, 19, with xxxiv. 5—7. 



VERSE 68. 



181 



up in this one name of Goodness. — None so communi- 
catively good as God. As the notion of God includes 
goodness, so the notion of goodness includes diffusive- 
ness. Without goodness he would cease to be a 
Deity ; and without diffusiveness he would cease to 
be good. The being good is necessary to the being 
God. For goodness is nothing else in the notion of it 
but a strong inclination to do good, either to find or 
to make an object, wherein to exercise itself, according 
to the propension of its own nature. And it is an 
inclination of communicating itself, not for its own 
interest, but for the good of the object it pitcheth 
upon. Thus God is good by nature ; and his nature 
is not without activity. He acts conveniently with 
his own nature. " Thou art good, and doest good,^^ * ^ 
How easily an acknowledgment of this kind is excited 
towards an earthly friend ! Yet who has not daily 
cause to complain of the coldness and langour of his 
affections towards his God ? It would be a sweet 
morning's reflection to recollect some of the innumer- 
able instances, in which the goodness of God has been 
most distinctly marked ; to trace them in their peculiar 
application to our own need; and above all to mark, 
not only the source from which they come, but the 
channel through which they flow. A view of covenant 
love does indeed make the goodness of God to shine 
with inexpressible brightness in the face of Jesus 
Christ ; " ^ ^mj often, when the heart is conscious of 
backsliding, does the contemplation of this goodness,'' 
under the influence of the Spirit, prove the Divinely 
appointed means of " leading us to repentance." -^ 

^ Charnock's Works, vol. i. 581, 585, 588. For another exqui- 
site view (parallel and in some particulars identical with Charnock) 
of this ' perfecting perfection, which crowns and consummates all 
the rest'— See Howe's Works, 8vo. Edit. 1822, viii. pp. 107—114. 
2 2 Cor. iv, 6. ^ Rom. ii. 4. 



182 EXPOSITION OF PSALM CXIX. 

But praise will always give encouragement to 
prayer. Thou art good, and doest good,'' Then 
give me the good I need— Give me this instance 
of thy goodness— Teach me thy statutes^' Thus 
should our views of Divine goodness establish our 
habit of dependence upon the Lord for every needful 
blessing, and among the rest, for the blessing of 
Divine teaching, which indeed is connected with this 
feature of the Divme character. i Twice before had 
the Psalmist sent up this prayer and plea.^ Yet, 
though probably the carnal taste may be weary of the 
repetition, he seems to make the supplication ever 
new by the freshness and vehemency of his desires. 
And let me ever make it new by the remembrance 
of that one display of goodness, which casts every 
other manifestation into the shade, constituting of 
itself an entire and complete mirror of infinite and 
everlasting goodness— God so loved the world, that 
he gave his oniy-begotten Son/' 3 y^r^^^ ^an I say 
to this— but ''Thou art good, and doest good,'' 
What may I not then expect from thee Teach 
me thy statutes ''—Teach me the revelation of thyself 
—Teach me the knowledge of thy Son. For '^ this 
is life eternal, that I might know thee, the only true 
God, and Jesus Christ whom thou hast sent." ^ 

69. The proud have forged a lie against me; hut I 
will keep thy precepts with my ivhole heart. 

He, who '' is a liar and the father of it," 5— how 
readily does he put it into the hearts of his children 
to ''forge lies against " the children of God ! But ail 
is overruled by the ever^ watchful care and providence 

1 Psalm xsv. 8. 2 ygj-ses 12, 64. s John iii. 16. 

Ib.xvii. 3. o lb. Yiii. 44. 



VERSE 69. 1B3 

of God for the eventual good of his church. Thus 
the insincere are frightened by the cross, and removed 
out of the way, while the power of faith is displayed 
to the world in the stedfastness of his own people. It 
is a delightful source of encouragement in this fiery 
trial to take off the eye from the objects of sense, and 
to fix it upon Jesus. And indeed the neglect of eyeing 
his example as our pattern and encouragement is a 
serious fault and hindrance in our Christian profes- 
sion. For what circumstance is there of difficulty and 
trial, in which we do not enjoy the high honour and 
privilege, of being conformed to his suffering image ; 
and in which therefore his life, and daily sorrows and 
tribulations, will not supply equal direction and sup- 
port ? Do the proud forge lies against us ? So 
did they against him i—*' The disciple is not above 
his Master, nor the servant above his Lord. It is 
enough for the disciple, that he be as his Master, and 
the servant as his Lord. If they have called the 
Master of the house Beelzebub, how much more shall 
they call them of his household." 2 The exhortation 
therefore of the apostle speaks to this case— Consider 
him, that endured such contradiction of sinners against 
himself, lest ye be wearied and faint in your minds,'' ^ 
But is it always lies that are forged against us ? " 
Is there no worldliness, or pride, or inconsistency in 
temper and walk, that opens the mouths of the enemies 
of the gospel, and causes " the way of truth to be 
evil spoken of ? " * Do they not sometimes " say all 
manner of evil against some of us, for Christ's sake,'' 
yet alas! not altogether falsely ''Woe unto 

the vforld, because of offences ! for it must needs be 
that offences come ; but woe to that man, by whom the 

1 Compare Matt. xxvi. 59—61. ^ Ibid. x. 24, 25. 

3 Heb. xii. 3. 2 Peter ii. 2. ^ See Matt. v. U. 



184 EXPOSITION OF PSALM CXIX. 

offence cometh ! " i If however the reproach of the 
world be the reproEM^h of the cross of Christ, " let us 
hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering ; 
for he is faithful that promiseth/' 2 Insincerity of 
heart is one of the most powerful hindrances to a 
consistent and persevering endurance of the cross. A 
heart divided between God and the world will ever be 
found faulty and backsliding.-^ Wholeness of heart in 
the precepts of God adorns the Christian profession, 
awes the ungodly world, realizes the full extent of the 
Divine promises, and pours into the soul such a 
spring- tide of enjoyment, as more than counterbalances 
all the reproach, contempt, and falsehood, which the 
forge of the great enemy is employing against us with 
unceasing activity, and relentless hatred. Yet forget 
not, believer, that these proofs of the malicious enmity 
of the proud must often be received as the gentle 
stroke of your Father's chastisement. Let the fruits 
of it then be daily visible in the work of mortification 
— in the exercise of the suffering graces of the gospel 
of Christ— in your growing conformity to his image 
— and in a progressive meetness for a world of eternal, 
uninterrupted love. 

70. Their heart is as fat as grease : but I delight in 

thy law. 

What a fearful blov/ of Almighty justice is that, 
which benumbs the sinner's heart ; so that, though 
mountains of sin and guilt lie upon it, the pressure is 
unfelt ! The heart is as if it were left of God " seared 
with a hot iron," ^ and therefore without tenderness ; 
" past feeling ; " 5 unsoftened by the touch and power 

1 Matt, xviii. 7. ^ j^g^ ^ 23. 3 Comp. Hos. x. 2. Jer. iii. 10. 
4 1 Tim. iv. 2. 5 Eph. iv. 18. 



VERSE 70. 



185 



of the word ; unhumbled by the rod of providential 
dispensations, given up to the heaviest of all spiritual 
Judgments ! But it is of little avail to stifle the voice 
of conscience, unless the same power or device could 
annihilate hell. It will only awake out of sleep, 
like a giant refreshed with wine,"i and rage with 
ten-fold interminable fury in the eternal world on 
account of the temporary restraint, which for a short 
moment had benumbed its energy. Wilful resistance 
of the light of the gospel and the strivings of the 
Spirit has probably been the awful provocation, that 
has constrained from a God of love the message of 
judicial abandonment — Make the heart of this 
people fat, and make their ears heavy, and shut their 
eyes ; lest they see with their eyes, and hear with 
their ears, and understand with their heart, and con- 
vert, and be healed." ^ Who then among us will not 
cry — ^ From hardness of heart, and contempt of thy 
word and commandments, Good Lord ! deliver us / ^ 2. 
The first mark of the touch of grace is, when the 
heart becomes sensible of its own insensibility, and 
contrite on account of its own hardness. 'Nothing' 
— said Jerome, in a letter to a friend — ' makes my 
heart sadder, than that nothing makes it sad.' But 
when the plague of our own heart" begins to be 
" known," 4 and to become matter of confession, humi- 
liation, and prayer ; the promise of a new," soft, and 
tender heart," speaks comfort and encouragement. ^ 
The heart that is the subject of this promise is led to 
take its delight in God's law and this, amidst 
the sometimes overwhelming power of natural corrup- 
tion, gives a satisfactory witness of a change from 
death unto life." 

1 Psalm Ixxviii. 65. P. T. 2 jga. vi. 9, 10. ^ Litany. 
4 i Kings viii. 38. ^ Ezek. xxxvi. 26. 



186 EXPOSITION OF PSALM CXIX. 

Christian ! does not the contrast of this wretched 
condition with your own favoured state force from you 
an acknowledgment of praise to distinguishing gi-ac^ ? 
That he should have set his love upon such a heart 
as yours ! Even when you were dead in sins — that he 
should have quickened you together with Christ ! i 
How poor would be the service of ten thousand hearts 
as a return for such unmerited love ! As for those, 
who are still in an insensible state— nothino- but the 
quickening Spirit can breathe into them life, and 
feeling, and love. 2 Without this Divine influence, all 
is death! Come from the four winds, O breath; 
and breathe upon these slain that they may live.'' ^ 

Let us apply, for the purpose of daily self-examina- 
tion, this description of the heart, either as given up 
to its natural hardness and dulness, or as cast into 
the gospel mould of delight in the law of God J' 
Such an examination will prove to us, how much even 
renewed souls need of the transforming, softening, 
influences of gTace. " The deceitfulness of sin" 
spreads a hardness over the heart, ^ which if left to 
itself, would soon revert to its original character — 
" as fat G5^re«5e''-- unfeeling— incapable of impres-^ 
sion without a divine touch. O Lord, let not my 
heart be unvisited for one day, one hour, by that 
melting energy of love, which first made me feel, and 
constrained me to love. 

1\. It is good for me that I have been afflicted ; that 
I might learn thy statutes. 

If I mark in myself any diflFerence from the un- 
godly—if I can feel that the natural insensibility of 

1 Eph. ii. 4, 5. 2 John vi. 63. 

3 Ezek. xxxvii. 9. ^ jjeb. iii. 13. 



VERSE 71. 



187 



my heart is yielding to the influence of grace—if I 
am enabled to " deUght in God's law/' which before 
I had neglected as a strange thing i where and 
by what means has this change been produced ? If 
this transformation— by which " God has made my 
heart soft/'^ ^hich before was " as fat as grease''— 
has been wrought in the school of affliction; let 
me be ready to acknowledge—^^ It is good for me 
that I have been afflicted.'' None indeed but the 
Lord's scholars can know the benefit of this school, 
and this teaching. If any special lesson is to be 
taught, it will probably be learned there; for there 
it is, that he sheweth us our work, he openeth also 
our ear to discipline." ^ ' I never'— said Luther— 
' knew the meaning of God's word, until I came into 
affliction. I have always found it one of my best 
schoolmasters.' ^ This teaching— as the fruit of afflic- 
tion — marks the sanctified fi:om the unsanctified cross. 
For it may be most truly said, that affliction under 
this Divine teaching explains many a hard text, and 
seals many a precious promise. Indeed we should 
miss much of the meaning and spiritual blessing of 
the word, if we were not more or less placed under his 
discipline. For how can we have any experimental 

1 Hos. viii. 12. ^ Job xxiii. 16. ^ jbid. xxxvi. 8—10. 

4 On another occasion, referring to some spiritual temptation 
on the morning of the preceding day, he added to a friend, (Justin 
Jonas) * Doctor, I must mark the day, I was yesterday at school/ 
Milner, v. 484. In one of his works, he most accurately calls afflic- 
tion 'the theology of Christians' — ' theologiam Christianorum.* 
To the same purport is the testimony of a learned French divine 
and tried saint of God—' I have learned more divinity,*— said Dr. 
Rivet, confessing to God of his last days of affliction — ' in these 
ten days that thou art come to visit me, than 1 did in fifty years 
before.' Thou hast brought me to myself. " Before I was afflicted 
I went astray," and was in the world; but now I am conversant in 
the school of my God ; and he teacheth me after another manner 
than all those doctors, in reading whom I spent so much time.' — 
Middleton's Biog. Evan. iii. 238. 



188 EXPOSITION OF PSALM CXIX. 

acquaintance with the promises of the word, except 
we are brought into those circumstances for which the 
promises are made ? How, for example, could we 
understand the full mercy of such a gracious word— 
Call upon me in the day of trouble— I will deliver 
thee, and thou shalt glorify me " i— unless our con- 
dition were such, as to remind us of our Lord's decla- 
ration—^^ In the world ye shall have tribulation ? 2 
And how much more profitable is this learning acquired 
in the school of experience, than the result of mere 
human instruction ? When therefore we are led to pray 
for a clearer apprehension and interest in the contents 
of the blessed book, and for a deeper experience of its 
power upon our hearts ; we are in fact often uncon- 
sciously supplicating for the chastening rod of our 
Father's love. For it is the man " whom the Lord 
chasteneth,'^ that he teacheth out of his law.^' 
Peter indeed, when on the mount of transfiguration, 
said— It is good for us to be here. Let us build 
here three tabernacles.^' Here let us abide in a state 
of comfort, indulgence, and sunshine. But well was 
it added by the sacred historian—*^ Not knowing what 
he said.'^4 The judgment of David was far more 
correct, when he pronounced, that " it was good for 
him that he had been afilicted." For so often are we 
convicted of inattention to the voice of the Lord— so 
often do we find ourselves looking back upon forsaken 
Sodom, or lingering in the plains, instead of pressing 

1 Psalm L 15. 2 Johnxvi.33. 

Psalm xciv. 12. The use of the word irail^ia m the accep- 
tation of chastening (LXX. in this verse, and Heb. xu. 5 ) is 
remarkable, as describing literally the instruction by which a child 
is trained to the acquisition of useful knowledge ; which, however 
not being generally effected without chastening, accounts for the 
use of the word, to mark the discipline, which usually attends 
instruction. 

Luke ix. 33. 



VERSE 71. 

onward to Zoar^— that the indulgence of our own 
liberty would shortly hurry us along the pathway 
of destruction. Alas ! often do we feel the spirit 
of prayer to be quenched for a season by the " over- 
charging of the heart with the cares of this life - — 
or by the overprizing of some lawful source of comfort 
or by a temper inconsistent with our Christian pro- 
fession — or by an undue confidence in the flesh. And 
at such season of backsliding, we must count among 
our choicest mercies, the gracious discipline, by which 
the Lord schools us with the cross, " that ive may 
learn his statutes, 

And are you, tried believer, disposed to regret the 
lessons you have already learned in this school ; or to 
conceive that you have purchased them at too dear a 
cost ? Do you gTieve over the bleedings of a contrite 
heart, that have brought you under the care of the 
healing physician } Or do you know any other way, 
by which you could have obtained so rich a know- 
ledge of his love, or have been trained to such im- 
plicit obedience to his w ill ? As Jesus, " though he 
were a Son, yet learned obedience by the things that 
he suffered," 3 so may we ''rejoice, inasmuch as we 
are partakers of his sufferings," ^ and be thankful to 
learn the same obedience as the evidence and fruits of 
our conformity to him. The Lord save us from the 
greatest of all afflictions— an affliction lost ! ^ ''Be 
thou instructed, O Jerusalem, lest my soul depart 
from thee ; lest I make thee desolate, a land not in- 
habited.^ He that, being often reproved, hardeneth 
his neck, shall suddenly be destroyed, and that 

1 Comp. Gen. xix. 17—22. - Luke xxi. 34. 

3 Heb. V. 8. 4 1 Pet. iv. 13. 

^ Compare 1 Kings xiii. 33. 2 Chron. xxviii. 22. 
6 Jer. vi, 8. 



lUO EXPOSITION OF PSALM CXIX. 

without remedy.'^ i— A call to tremble and repent, 
to watch and pray, and '^timi to him that smiteth 
us ! 2 

Oh ! is there one of that countless throng surround- 
ing the everlasting throne, that is not ready with this 
song of praise— It is good for me that I have been 
afflicted ? " And one of the elders answered, sayins: 
unto me — ^y}l^it are these which are arrayed in white 
robes ? and ichence came they ? And I said unto him. 
Sir, thou knowest. And he said unto me. These are 
they which ccniie out of great tribulation, and have 
washed their robes, and made them white in the blood 
of the Lamb." 3 



72. The law of thy mouth is better unto me, than 
thousands of gold and silver. 

Well might David acknowledge the benefit of af- 
fliction, inasmuch as it had been the means of his 
" lenrning in God's statutes'' something, that was 
" better to hi?n than thousands of gold and silver'' 
This was indeed an enlightened judgment for one to 
form, who had so small a part of the law of God's 
mmi th," and so large a portion of this world's treasure. 
And yet, if we study only his Book of Psalms to 
know the important uses and privileges of the law, 
and his son's Book of Ecclesiastes to discover the 
value of gold and silver,^ we shall under Divine 
teaching be led to make the same estimate for our- 
selves. With the same, or rather with far higher, 
delight than the miser calculates his thousands of 
gold and silver,'* does the believer tell out the precious 
contents of the law of his God. After having endea- 

1 Prov.xxix. 1. 2 

2 Rev. vii. 14. 4 Eccles. v. 9—20 ; vi. 1, 2. 



VERSE 72. 



191 



voured in vain to count the thousands in his treasure, 
he is constrained to sum up their value by a single 
name— the unsearchable riches of Christ." i Would 
not the smallest spot of ground be estimated at the 
price of " thousands of gold and silver/' if it were 
known to conceal under its surface a mine of in- 
exhaustible treasure ? This it is that makes the 
word so inestimable— that the " pearl of great price" 
— ''the hidden treasure" — lies concealed in its 
pao-es.^ The believer would not therefore part with 
one leaf of his Bible for all the thousands of gold 
and silver " that the world could empty before him. 
He knows himself to be in possession of the sub- 
stance—he has found all besides to be a shadow. 
— " I lead"— saith the Saviour — "in the way of 
righteousness, in the midst of the paths of judg- 
ment ; that I may cause them that love me to inherit 
substance; and I will fell their treasures,'^ ^ To 
those, however, who do not '' search the Scriptures," 
as ''testifying of Christ," ^ they are of little value. 
It is the Saviour's glory that gilds the page ; and 
when with unveiled face, we behold it in this glass," ^ 
we know of no arithmetic that can compute the price 
of that, which is unspeakably better than the treasures 
of the earth. 

Christian ! Be ever ready with your testimony, that 
no book has imparted the delight which you have 
found in the book of God. You have here opened 
the surface of much intellectual interest and solid in- 
struction. But it is the joy that you are enabled to 
find in the revelation of the Saviour — in his commands 
— in his promises — in his ways — that lead you to 
exclaim — " More to be desired are they than gold, 

1 Ephes. iii. 8. " Matt. xiii. 44— 46. ^ Prov. viii. 20, 21 . 
John V.39. ^ 2 Cor. iii. 18. 



192 EXPOSITIOX OF PSALM CXIX. 

yea than much fine gold ! i Yes indeed— Every 
promise— every declaration— centering in him— is a 
pearl— and the word of God is full of these precious 
pearls. If then they be the richest, who have the 
best and the largest treasure, those who have most 
of the word in their hearts— not those who have most 
of the world in their possession— are justly entitled 
to this pre-eminence. Let then the word of Christ 
dwell in us richly in all wisdom.'' 2 Poj. ^hose who 
are rich in this heavenly treasure, are men of sub- 
stance indeed. 

Can I add my testimony to this estimate of the 
sacred treasure ? Many will inconsiderately acknow- 
ledge its supreme value, while they yet hesitate to 
relinquish even a scanty morsel of this world's portion 
for an interest in it. Do I then habitually prefer 

this laic of GocVs mouth" to eveiy worldly ad- 
vantage, so that I am ready to forego every selfish 
consideration, 3 if it may only be the means of uuitino 
my heart more closely to the Book of God ? If I 
cannot set my seal to the testimony here o:iyen af its 
value, I fear it must be, because I have not yet 
opened the mine. But if I can agTee with this man 
of God— I may take up the expression of joyful 
surprise with far more justice than Archimedes— ' I 
have found it ! I have found it ! ' What ?— That 
which the world could never have given me — that 
which the world can never deprive me of. 



\ Psalm xix. 10. 2 ^^^^ 

^ ^ A Jewish Rabbi, when induced by the prospect of a lucrative 
situation to fix his settlement in a place where there was no syria- 
gog-ue, is said to have resisted the temptation by the recollection 
of this verse— Poh Synopsis— in loco. A reproof to Christians, 
who, in "choosing the bounds of their habitation," have not 
always been single-minded in l^vinz before them their :\Iaster's 
rule. Matt. yi. 33. 



VERSE 72. 193 

Lord ! help me to prize the law as coming from 
thy mouth J'' Let it be for ever written upon my 
heart. Let me be daily exploring my hidden trea- 
sures. Let me be enriching myself and all around me 
with a present possession and interest in these heavenly 
blessings. 



K 



194 



EXPOSITION OF PSALM CXIX. 



PART X. 

73. Thy hands have made me and fashioned me : 
give me understandings thai I may learn thy 
commandments. 

In the vast universe of wonders, man is the greatest 
wonder — ' the noblest work of God.' A council of 
the Sacred Trinity appears to have been held respect- 
ing his creation. God said, Let us make man in 
our image, after our likeness." ^ What an amazing 
thought iiS it, that the three Eternal subsistents in 
the glorious Godhead should have united in gracious 
design and operation towards the dust of the earth ! 
But thus man was formed — thus was he raised out 
of his parent dust — from this low original, to be 
immediately set apart for the Master's use" — the 
living temple and habitation of Divine glory — a Being 
full of God. The first moment that he opened his 
eyes to behold the light and beauty of the new- 
made world, the Lord separated him to receive the 
continual supply of his own life. His body was fitted 
as a tabernacle for his soul, curiously wrought " by 
the hand of God, and all its parts and members 
written in his book, which in continuance were 
fashioned, when as yet there was none of them." 
Most naturally therefore does the contemplation of 
this perfection of beauty" in the works of God, 
raise the grateful and adoring mind upward—'' I will 
praise thee ; for I am fearfully and wonderfully made ; 



1 Gen. i. 26. 



VERSE 73. 195 

marvellous are thy works ; and that my soul knoweth 
right well.'^ ^ Thy hands have made me and 
fashioned meT 

But where the soul is alive to the recollection of 
being the workmanship of God, there will be a sense 
of important relation to God, and a desire for a 
spiritual principle of life and understanding to act 
according to this relation. Could we suppose that 
man was framed to eat, to sleep, and to die — that, 
after taking a few turns upon the grand walk of life, 
he was to descend into the world of eternal silence, we 
might as well ask the question of God — ' • Wherefore 
hast thou made all men in vain ? ^ But the first 
awakening of man from his death-like sleep enlightens 
him in the right knowledge of the end of his creation. 
He pleads his relation to God as the ground of his 
prayer for Divine teaching. What is it which thy 
creature and workmanship begs of thee ? That, as 
thou hast given me a natural being, thou wouldest 
give me the principle of spiritual existence, without 
which my natural existence can never glorify thee. 
All the privileges of my creation were lost by the 
fall. Thou hast indeed ^'curiously wrought" my 
frame ; but sin has marred all. Make me thy " spi- 
ritual " workmanship, created in Christ Jesus.'* ^ 
Give me understanding^' — spiritual knowledge, 
that 1 may learn thy cQnunandrnents '' — Renew a 
right spirit within me.""* It is however impossible to 
convince the natural man, that he needs to make such 
a prayer as this. No— he is puffed up in his own 
wisdom. He cannot receive the Divine testimony, 
that levels him — while he understandeth not " — 
with the beasts that perish,'' ^ ^j^d tells him, that he 

1 Psalm cxxxix. 14 — 16. - Ibid. Ixxxix, 47. 

3 Ephes. ii. 10. ^ Psalm li. 10. ^ Ibid. xlix. 20. 

K 2 



lyo EXPOSITION OF PSALM CXIX. 

must become a fool, that he may be wise/'i But 
should he ever know this radical change— this new 
state of existence, he will offer up this prayer eagerly 
and frequently; and every step of his way heaven- 
ward he will gTow in an increasing sense of his need 
of divine " wisdom and spiritual understanding." 

The song of heaven reminds us of this end of our 
creation—^' Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive 
glory, and honour, and power ; for thou hast created 
all things ; and for thy pleasure they are and were 
created." 2 ^^^j harmony with this song we must 
ever acknowledge that the " Lord hath made all 
things for himself" 3_that he " created all things for 
his glory." 4 The recollection also that he " created 
us by Jesus Christ,"^ M^ill bring before us the grand 
work of redemption, and the work of the new creation 
consequent upon it. He who created us in his own 
image, when that image was lost, that he might not 
lose his property in us, put a fresh seal upon his 
natural right in us by creation, and '^purchased us 
with his ov\Ti blood." Oh ! let us not then be in- 
sensible to this constraining motive to learn his com- 
mandments,'' — " Ye are not your own, for ye are 
bought with a price; therefore glorify God in your 
body and in your spirit, which are God's." ^ 

74. They that fear thee, will be glad ivhen they see me ; 
because I have hoped in thy word. 

How cheering is the converse with a tried and 
established believer ! How satisfactory and enlivening 
is the exhibition of the po\T^ of faith— enabling him 

1 1 Cor. iii. 18. - Rev. iv. 11. 3 p^^^^ xvi. 4. 

^ Isaiah xliii. 7. ^ ^p^^ 9 Johni. 1—3. 

« 1 Cor. vi. 19, 20. 



VERSE 74. 19T 

to place, and habitually to maintain in exercise, a hope 
in the promises of God ! And what an excitement to 
communion with God, to think that the light which 
he thus receives may shine on those around him ! 
What a comfort will it be unto him even in his own 
hour of temptation, that the hope which he is then 
enabled to maintain by the word and promise of God, 
shall not only prove the support of his own soul, but 
the stay and trust of the Lord's people around ! Many 
a tempted Christian, who scarcely dares to cherish 
a hope, and who is continually oppressed with such 
feai's as this — I shall one day perish by the hands 
of Saul,'^ 1 — when he hears of one and another exer- 
cised in the same trials, and who have hoped in 
God's wordy'' and have not been disappointed, ^' ivill 
be glad when they see them." Thus David recorded 
his conflicts, that we may not despair of our own ; and 
his triumphs, that in the name of our God we might 
set up our banners.'^- " I had fainted unless I had 
believed to see the goodness of the Lord in the land 
of the living. Wait on the Lord, be of good couraae, 
and he shall strengthen thine heart : wait I say, upon 
the Lord/' ^ Thus also, when under affliction, he was 
comforted with the thought of comforting others with 
the history of his own experience — My soul shall 
make her boast in the Lord : the hiunhle shall hear 
thereof and be glad. praise the Lord loith me, aiid 
let us magnify his name together. He hath put a new 
song into my mouth, even praise unto our God. Many 
shall see it, and fear, and shall trust in the Lord. 
Bring my soul out of prison, that I may praise thy 
name ; the righteous shall compass me about, for 
thou shalt deal bountifully with me."^ And in this 

^ 1 Sam. xxvii. I. - Psalm xx. 5. ^ ibid, xxvii. 13, 14. 
Ibid, xxxiv.- 2, 3 ; xl. 3 ; cxlii. 7. Comp. also ixix. 30-— 32. 

K 3 



198 EXPOSITION OF PSALM CXIX. 

view, the believer who has been " sifted in the sieve " 
of temptation, without the least grain'' of faith or 
hope falling upon the earth/' i stands forth as a 
monument of the Lord's faithfulness, to strengthen 
the weak hands, and confirm the feeble knees, and to 
say to them that are of a feeble heart, Be strong, fear 
not." 2 Those that are fearful and of little faith, " are 
glad when theij see him.'' They thank God" for 
him, and take courage " 3 for themselves. What 
a motive is this to keep us from despondency and 
murmuring, that we may enjoy the privilege of minis- 
tering to the comfort of the afflicted, and that we may 
not, by giving way to unbelief, destroy those who are 
already cast down ! " And let the weak and dis- 
tressed remember, that it is their duty and privilege 
to seek for and to prize the society of those who have 
been exercised and instructed in the Lord's school. 

Believer ! what have you to tell to the discouraged 
soul of the faithfulness of your God ? Cannot you 
put courage into the heart of your drooping brethren, 
by declaring that you have never been ''ashamed of 
your hope ? " Cannot you tell them from your own 
experience, that Jesus '' is for a foundation stone, a 
tried stone, a sure foundation ? " ^ Cannot you shew 
them, that, because he has borne the burden of their 
sins, he is able to bear their griefs and to carry their 
sorrows ? " ^ that you have tried him, that you have 
found him so ? Oh ! be animated — be encouras^ed to 
know more of Christ yourself ; let your hope in him 
be strengthened, that you may cause gladness in the 
hearts of those that see you, so that whether you be 
afflicted, or whether you be comforted, it may be for 
their consolation and salvation." ^ 

1 Amosix. 9. ^ jsa. xxxv. 3, 4. s ^cts xxviii. 15. 

4 Isa. xxviii. 16. ^ Ibid. liii. 4. 6 9 Cor. i. 6. 



VERSE 75. 

But O my God ! how much cause have I for shame, 
that I impart so little of the glorious light of thy 
truth to those around me. Perhaps some poor trem- 
bling sinner has been glad when he saw me,*' hoping 
to hear something of the Saviour from my lips, and 
has found me straitened and cold and dumb. Oh ! 
that I may be so " filled with the spirit," so experi- 
enced in thy gracious ways, that I may invite " all 
that fear thee to come to me," that I may " tell them 
what thou hast done for my soul," i so that '^when men 
are cast down, they may say. There is lifting up." 2 



75. I know, Lord, that thy judgments are right, and 
that thou in faithfulness hast afflicted me. 

' I KNOW, O Lord, that thy rules of proceeding 
with me are agreeable to thy perfect wisdom ; and 
I am equally satisfied, that the afflictions, that thou 
hast laid upon me from time to time, are only to 
fulfil thy gracious and faithful promise of making me 
eternally happy in thyself.' Blessed fruit of afflic- 
tion ! when we can thus see the end of the Lord, 
that the Lord is very pitiful, and of tender mercy" 
that his thoughts towards us are thoughts of peace 
and not of evil." ^ Those who are enabled to exercise 
" the patience and faith of the saints," have learned 
this difficult but most consoling lesson. They can 
decypher the mysterious lines in God's providence, 
and in the cheerful confidence of faith they can say 
— " I know, Lord, that thy judgments are right,'' 
Who would charge the operator with cruelty — when 
cutting out the proud flesh, that was bringing death 
upon the whole man ? Who would not acknowledge 

1 Psalm Ixvi. 16. 2 job xxii. 29. 

3 James V. 11. ^ Jer. xxix. 11, 



200 EXPOSITION OF PSALM CXIX. 

the wisdom of his piercing work ? Thus, when the 
Lord^s painful work of humiliation separates us from 
our sin, weans us from the world, and brings us nearer 
to himself, what remains for us but thankfrilly to ac- 
knowledg;e his righteousness and truth ? And how 
does this view of the Lord's dealings put unbelief to 
rebuke, so that if ever we had been tempted to think, 
" that God had forgotten to be gracious," we are 
constrained to say—" This is our infirmity." i This 
assurance, that the Lord acts in perfect wisdom and 
intimate knowledge of our respective cases, leads his 
people to yield to his appointments in dutiful silence. 
It was this that made Aaron, mider his most afflictive 
domestic calamity, " hold his peace." ^ Job under a 
similar dispensation was enabled to say—" The Lord 
gave, and the Lord hath taken away ; blessed be the 
name of the Lord." ^ Eli's language in the same trial 
was-" It is the Lord ; let him do what seemeth him 
good." i David hushed his impatient spirit into silence 
—"I was dumb, I opened not my mouth, because 
thou didst it." And when Shimei cursed him, he 
said—" Let him alone, let him curse; for the Lord 
hath bidden him." 5 The Shunamite bowed in the 
meek resignation of faith ; and, when severely exer- 
cised in the judgments of God, acknowledged—" It is 
well." <5 Hezekiah kissed the rod while it was smiting 
him to the dust : " Good is the word of the Lord 
which thou hast spoken." t Thus uniform is the 
language of the Lord's people under chastisement— 
" I know, Lord, that thy judgments are right." 

But David not only acknowledges God's risht to 
deal with him as he sees fit, and his wisdom in dealing 

1 Psalm Ixxvii. 7— lo. Lev. x. ]— 3. s Job i ■>! 

' 1 Sam. iii. 13. 5 psa,t„ ^^^j^ ^ Sam. xvi. 1 1" 12 

« 2 Kings IV. 26. ' Isaiah xxxix. 8, 



VERSE 75. -^^ 

with him as he actually had done : he goes further 
than this— he says— Thou in faithfulness hast 
afflicted vie:' He sees as much love as wisdom 
in the trials the Lord appointed for him. He was 
persuaded that God in afflicting him, was fulfilling 
his everlasting covenant, and faithfully performing 
the promises of that covenant. ^ Thus the believer 
will often perceive, (and it is his privilege always to 
believe, even when he cannot perceive) that the reasons 
of chastisement are to be found in the designs of the 
Lord's faithful love to his soul.^ Let him only mark 
its gracious effects — in his restoration ; ^ in his instruc- 
tion ; ^ in the healing of his backslidings,^ and the 
continual purging of his sins^ — and then say — *' Is 
not the " faithfulness'' of God gloriously displayed i 
The Philistines could not understand Samson's riddle 
— how ' Meat could come out of the eater, and sweet- 
ne^^s out of the strong.' 7 As little can the wwld 
comprehend the fruitfulness of the Christian's trials 
— how his gracious Lord sweetens to him the bitter 
waters of Marah,^ and makes the cross not so much 
the punishment, as the remedy, of sin. Indeed his 
merciful designs could not have been accomplished 
in any other wa^s while under trials many sweet 
tokens of love are vouchsafed, which under circum- 
stances of outward prosperity, could not have been 
received with the same gratitude and delight. 

You that are living at ease in the indulgence of what 
this poor world can afford, how little does the Christian 
envy your portion ! How^ surely in some future day 
will you be taught by experience to envy his ! The 

^ Psaim Ixxxix. 30—32. - Deut. viii. 16. 

Verse 67, and texts referred to on that verse. 
^ Verse 71, and texts. ^ Kos.ii. 6, 7, 14, 

^ Is'd. xxvii. 9 ; xlviii. 10. Zech. xiii. 9. John xv. 2. 
' Judges xiv. 14. ^ See £xod. xv. 23 — 25. 

K 5 



202 EXPOSITION OF PSALM CXIX. 

world's riches are becoming poorer, and the world's 
pleasures more tasteless every day. And what will 
they be, and how will they appear, when eternity is 
at hand ! Whereas affliction is the special token of 
our Father's love i— conformity to the image of Jesus, 
and preparation for his service and kingdom. It is 
the only blessing that the Lord gives without requiring 
lis to ask for it.2 We must therefore receive it as 
promised, not as threatened ; and when the peaceable 
fruits of righteousness," 3 which it worketh in God's 
time and way, begin to spring up in our hearts, may we 
ever be ready with our humble and grateful acknow- 
ledgments of the righteousness of the Lord's ^^judg- 
ments," and the faithfulness" of his corrections. 

76. Let, I pray thee, thy merciful kindness he for my 
comfort, according to thy word unto thy servant. 

What ! Does the Psalmist then seek his comfort 
from the very hand that strikes him ? This is the 
exercise of genuine faith. " Though he slay me, yet 
will I trust in him." 

Several of the preceding verses have spoken of 
affliction. ^ The Psalmist now presents his petition 
for alleviation under it. But of what kind ? He does 
Slot ask to have it removed. He does not beseech 
the Lord, that it might depart from him." ^ No. His 
repeated acknowledgments of the supports vouchsafed 
under it, and the benefits he had derived from it, had 

^ Heb. xii. 6. Rev. iii. 19. 
Phil. i. 29. Lord Bacon somewhere remarks, ' that, however 
temporal prosperity may have been promised to the Church under 
the Old Testament ; affliction, and suffering, and trial, are the 
promises made to the Church under the Gospel dispensation.' 

^ Such as patience, experience, hope — the work of tribulation. 
Heb. xii. 11, with Rom. v. 3—5. 

Job xiii, 15. Verses 67, 71, 75. ^ 2 Cor. xii. 8. 



VERSE 76. 

reconciled him to commit its measure i ami continuance 
to the Lord. All that he needs, and all that he asks 
for, is a sense of his ''merciful kindness'' upon his 
soul. Thus he submits to his justice in his accumu- 
lated trials, and expects consolation under them solely 
upon the ground of his free favour. Indeed, as far as 
we are Christians, nothing beside can afford a moment's 
rest to the soul. The whole earth in its brightest 
visions of delight, destitute of the light of God^s 
countenance, is a barren wilderness, a state of exile. 
It matters little where we are, or what we have. In 
the fulness of Christian ordinances, unless the Lord 
leads us, meets us, and blesses us with his '' merciful 
kindness for our comfort,'' we are as ^^in a thirsty 
land where no water is.'' Absalom might as well 
have been at Geshur as at Jerusalem, as long as he 
'' saw not the king's face." ^ Nothing, that the Lord 
'' gives his people richly to enjoy," will satisfy, if this 
source of refreshment be withheld. The worldling's 
inquiry is — ''Who will shew us any good'" The 
Christian forms his answer into a prayer, — '' Lord! 
lift thou up the light of thy countenance upon me." ^ 
'' Let thy merciful kindness he for my comfort." 
This will give the enjoyment of every real good, and 
supply the place of every fancied good. It is a bless- 
ing, that never cloys, and will never end; and so 
sweet is the relish, that every fresh taste quenches the 
thirst for earthly pleasures. ''Whosoever drinketh 
of this water" — said our Divine Saviour — "shall 
thirst aoain. But whosoever drinketh of the water 
that I shall give him shall never thirst." ^ Delight 
thyself in the Lord ; and he shall give thee the desires 
of thine heart." ^ 

^ Jcr. X 24. " Comp. 2 Sam. xiv. 23, 24. 

^ Psalm iv. 6, John iv. 13, 14. Psaim xxx\ii.4. 



204 EXPOSITION OF PSALM CXIX. 

But— Reader— do you wish to realize this comfort ? 
Then must you seek to approach your God by the 
only way of access. You must learn to contemplate 
him in the only glass in which he is exhibited as a 
God of love— in the face of Jesus Christ.'^ i You 
must guard against looking for comfort from any 
other source. You must beware especially of that 
satisfaction in creature cisterns, which draws you away 
from ^^the fountain of living waters.'^ 2 You must 
learn also to prize this comfort supremely, and not to 
be content without some enjoyment, or even with a 
scanty measure of enjoyment; but rather let every 
refreshment of the day be made a step for desiring 
and attaining renewed and sweeter refreshment for to- 
morrow. There is however a propensity in some to 
look at David's experience, as if at prese7it they could 
hardly expect to reach its happiness ; and so they go 
on in a low, depressed, and almost sullen state— refus- 
ing the privileges, which are as freely offered to them 
as to others. But let them know, that such a state 
of mind is highly dishonourable to God. Let them 
seek to rouse their hearts from it by an earnest pleading; 
of their interest in the word of promise— according 
to thy ivord unto thy servant/' Let them lay their 
fingers upon one or all of the promises of their God. 
Let them spread before the Lord his own hand- writing 
and seals, and their Saviour hath said— According 
to your faith be it unto you.^" 3 The king is held 

1 2 Cor. iv. 6. Compare John xiv. 6. 2 jgj. j-^ 

Matt. ix. 29, The writer cannot forbear indulging himself 
u'lth a transcript of the prayers of Monica, Augustine's mother, 
as a beautiful example of this earnestness and simplicity of faith 
in Pleading the promises of the word-' Lord, these promises were 
made to be made good to some, and why not to me ? 1 hun-er • 
1 need; I thirst ; I wait. Eiere is thy hand-writing in thy word - 
and m the last sacrament I had thy seal affixed to it. I am resolved 
to be as importunate till 1 have obtained, and as thankful after- 



VERSE 76. 



205 



in the galleries,'' ^ and, if he should ^' make as though 
he would go farther,*' he is not unwilling that we 
should constrain him, saying — Abide with us.'' - 
Xo veil now but the veil of unbelief need hinder us 
from seeing an unclouded everlasting smile of merci- 
ful kindness'' upon our heavenly Pather's reconciled 
face. Only let us see to it, that he is the hrst, the 
best, the habitual object of our contemplation, the 
satisfyino: well-sDrino; of our deliaht — that he is the 
one only desire, to which every other is subordinate, 
and in which every other is absorbed. 

Lord Jesus ! I would seek for a renewed interest 
in thy merciful kindness." I would not forget, 
that it was this that brought thee down from heaven 
— that led thee to endure the death of the cross — that 
has washed me in thy precious blood — that visits me 
with many endearing tokens of thy presence. O let 
all my days be spent in the sense of this merciful 

wards, as by thy grace I shall be enabled ; being convinced that I 
am atterly lost and undone, if thou hearest not the desires of the 
humble ; and if thou dost hear and grant, I am so well acquainted 
with myself and with m.y own heart, that I have nothing to glory 
in ; but I shall wholly glory in the Lord ; and I do resolve and 
believe, that T shall to all eternity celebrate and magnify the riches 
of thy grace. Thy promises are the discoveries of thy purposes, 
and vouchsafed as materials for our prayers ; and in my supplica- 
tions I am resolved every day to present and tender them back to 
thee ; and if thou vrilt have regard to them, and appear to be a 
"God of truth" to my soul; a poor creature, that hath long 
feared to burn in hell for hypocrisy, will be secured and made 
happy for ever, I am resolved to wait upon thee, and to cast 
dovs-n my soul upon thee in this v;ay : and thou hast assured me, 
thou art a God of judgment." Thou didst promise in judgment. 
Thou knewest what thou didst in making such promises ; and thou 
wilt be a " God of judgment ; " thou knowest when and where to 
make them good; and thou hast pronounced — "Blessed are all 
they that wait for thee." On thee I will wait, and for this blessing 
I will hope and look. 

^ Can. vii. o, also vi. .5. 
- Comp. Luke xxiv. 2>', 29, with Gen. xxxii. 2G — 29. Compare 
the invitation given, Can. iv. 16 — instantly accepted, v. 1. 



206 EXPOSITION OF PSALM CXIX. 

kindness for my comfort,'' and in renderino; to thee 
the unworthy returns of grateful obedience and filial 
service. 

77. Let thy tender mercies come unto me, that I may 
live ; for thy Jaw is my delight. 

Again he prays for mercy. Such is his intense 
and restless desire. Before it was the mercy of for- 
giveness. Xow it is quickening — comfortino-— fe7?^^(?/ 
mercy. Yes — the Lord's mercies are ''tender mer~ 
cies ? " Like as a Father, he pitieth his children." i 
He yearns over them— How shall I give thee up, 
Ephraim ? Is Ephraim my dear son ? Is he a plea- 
sant child for since I spake agamst him, I do 
earnestly remember him still : therefore my bowels 
are troubled for him : I will surely have mercy upon 
him, saith the Lord.*' ^ ^^ hen his prodigaf child 
returned, probably expecting nothing but upbraiding 
looks, if not a wrathful frown of banishment ; the 
'' teyider mercies *' of his Father buried not only his 
sins, but also his very confessions, in the depths of the 
sea, and he was welcomed to his forsaken home with 
the most affectionate tokens of unabated love.^ As a 
Father, he puts away from his children ail anxietv 
respecting ^^what they shall eat, or what they shall 
drink, or wherewithal they shall be clothed,'' with 
the parental assurance, that he '' knoweth that they 
have need of these things." ^ As a Father, he also 
'' chasteneth " 5 them— ^' he suffereth their manners " ^ 
—he " spareth them, as a man spare th his own son 
that serveth him " T_aiid finally, he determineth 

1 Psalm ciii. 13. - Hos. xi. 8. Jer. xxxi, '^u. 

^ Comp. Luke xv. 20—24. ^ Matt. vi. 25—34. 

5 Deut. viii. 5. ^ j^^^^ ^^jjj^ i 7 ^^^^ ..j ^. 



VERSE 77. ^^^^ 

respecting each of them by an act of sovereign will 
and power— ''Thou shalt call me, My Fatherland 
shalt not depart from me."i Again let us look at 
him in a yet more endearing character—'' As one 
whom his mother comforteth, so will I comfort you. 
They may forget, yet will I not forget thee." ^ Xow 
are not these "tender mercies?'' And when they 
come unto " the soul, do they not become the 
principle of spiritual life, devotedness, and enjoy- 
ment ? David's soul had been quickened from that 
awful " death in trespasses and sins," ^ but he was 
not content, nor will any upright believer be content, 
with the mere breathing of spiritual existence. He 
seeks to " live,'' not as the trees of winter that are 
alive, and but just alive — but vigorous, thriving, fruit- 
ful, living to God and for God in every form and 
sphere, in every hour and action of the day, his 
feebleness becoming strength in the Lord, so that he 
" walks up and dovvu in his name." ^ Thus does he 
'^reion in life, " ^ risino^ to more of its honour and 
dignity, and reaching forth to more of its excellence 
and happiness. 

But let us not lose sight of the Author of our life 
— the abundant overflowing spring from which it is 
maintained. In Christ was life ; ^ and he " came 
that we might have life, and that we might have it 
more abundantly.""^ There can be therefore no 
exercises of life without a vital union to Christ — the 
source of life. Shall we then give up the hope of 
believing in Christ, till we feel the power and influence 
of this spiritual principle ? This would be indeed 
like refusing to abide in the vine, till we could bring 



1 Jer. iii. 19. ^ Isa. Ixvi. 13 ; xlix. 15. ^ Eph. ii. 1. 
Zech. X. 12. ^ Rom. v. 17. ^ John i. 4. 

■ Ibid. X. 10. 



'^Ob EXPOSITION OF PSALM CXIX. 

forth fruit ; whereas the branch, while separated 
from the vine, must ever be fruitless and withered.^ 
We ?nust receive life from Christ— not bring it to 
hi?7i. Faith implants us in him, and Christ dwelling 
in the heart by faith becomes the life of the sgi\\, 
animating and moving it in the ways of God. 

This life therefore will m^anifest itself in delight 
in God's law."— We shall not be satisfied to live upon 
the mere surface of the gospel (which is barren and 
unproductive, as any other surface in spiritual useful- 
ness) ; but we shall search into its hidden treasures, 
and draw forth its real life and consolation. This 
" delight will furnish a plea for our use at the throne 
of grace— ^ If this is a fruit and acting of the life of 
thine own implanting. Lord ! cherish it. Let me live 
by the influence of thy tender mercies:' I venture 
to plead my delight in thy law as an evidence of my 
adoption into thy family. And therefore I would 
renew my plea and my petition—'' Let thy tender 
mercies come unto me, that'' my life be not only 
existence, but enjoyment —the beginning, the earnest, 
of the everlasting life and bliss of heaven.' 

78. Let the proud be ashamed; for they dealt per- 

versely with me iciihout a cause : but I will 
meditate in thy precepts. 

The prophecy, with which God himself con- 
descended to open the history of the Church, has 
evei' since been in the course of accomplishment. ^ 

Enmity between the seed of the serpent and the 
seed of the woman," has been the prevailing character 

^ John XV. 4 — 6, 
Compare Gal. ii. 20, with Ezek. xxxvi. 27. 
^ Gen. iii. 15. Comp. Rev. xii. 17. 



VERSE 78. 



209 



and course of the world. " An unjust man is an 
abomination to the just, and he that is upright in 
the way, is abomination to the wicked." ^ David 
however prayed for the confusion of his enemies — 
not in a vindictive spirit, as if thirsting for their 
destruction, but rather as a wholesome chastening, 
that might eventually turn to their salvation. Fill 
their faces with shame, that they may seek thy name, 
LordJ'^ That his prayer was the expression of his 
tender compassion, rather than of resentful feeling, is 
sufficiently evident from his affectionate weeping con- 
cern for their immortal interests. ^ Prayers of the 
same deprecating character dropped from the lips of 
the gentle and compassionate Saviour ;4 while the 
objects of his awful deprecations were interested in 
the most yearning sympathies of his heart. ^ A regard 
however for the honour of God, combined with a view- 
to the eventual interest of his enemies, to dictate this 
prayer in David's heart. He knew that their malice 
against him was only the working of their enmity 
against God— that it was for his sake that they hated 
him,— that it was not so much him that they hated 
and persecuted, as God in him. And therefore as a 
servant of God he was ready to say—^' Do not I hate 
them, O Lord, that hate thee ? and am not I grieved 
at those that rise up against thee ? I hate them ivith 
perfect hatred: I count them mifie enemies,''^ The 
followers of a despised Saviour must indeed expect 
to be sorely distressed with the perverseness of the 
proud. But when, like their Master, they can testify 
that it is ''without a cause, '^'^ they may take the 

^ Prov. xxix. :27. - Psaim Ixxxiii. 16. 

3 Verses 56, 136. ' ' ■* Psalm Ixix. 21—28. 

^ Comp. Matt, xxiii. 37. ^ Psalm cxxxix. 21, 22. 

" Ibid. XXXV. 19 : ixix. 4 : with John xv. 25. 



210 EXPOSITION OF PSALM CXIX. 

encouragement of their Master's words — " Blessed 
are ye when men shall revile you, and persecute you, 
and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely for 
my sake. Rejoice, and be exceeding glad, for great 
is your reward in heaven/' i 

And have you, Reader, been exercised with trials 
from an ungodly world ? If you have been made 
the derision of the proud, or have been slighted, or 
ill-treated by the ungodly, has it never excited re- 
vengeful feelings within ? Have you always been 
enabled to set your Saviour's example before you, 
and, in patience possessing your soul," to refer your 
cause to your Almighty Father and Friend? — O 
Lord, I am oppressed, undertake for me." - Remem- 
ber — He has engaged to take up your cause — " Shall 
not God avenge his own elect, which cry day and 
night unto him, though he bear long with them ? / 
tell you, that he will avenge them speedily ^ 

The child of God in the hour of trial knows where 
to go, and what to do. Undismayed by dilEculty, 
and accustomed to go to the word of God for direction 
and support, he meditates iji his precepts,'^ There 
is often a hurry of mind in times of difficulty, which 
unhinges the soul from the simple exercise of faith. 
But habit brings practice, and steadiness, and sim- 
plicity, enabling us most sweetly to fix our hearts in 
recollection upon the word of God, and to apply its 
directions and encouragements to the exigency of the 
present moment. Our enemies fight against us with 
an arm of flesh. We resist them with the armour of 
the word of God. And how inestimably precious is 
the armour, refuge, strength, and consolation, here 

1 Matt. V. 11, 12. 

' Isaiah xxxviii. 14. Compare Psalm cxl. 12, 13. 

2 Luke xviii. 7, 8. 



VERSE 79. 

provided for us, against every effort to disturb our 
peace, or separate our hearts from the love of God 
which is in Christ Jesus our Lord." 

79. Let those that fear thee turn unto me, and those that 
have knotvn thy testimonies. 

As the believer finds trouble from the world, he 
prays, that he may find help from the Lord's people. 
And indeed the wise distribution of graces in the 
Church was ordained for the mutual help and sympa- 
thy of her several members. It is painful therefore to 
see Christians often walking aloof from each other, 
and suffering coldness, distance, and mutual differ- 
ences and distrust to divide them from their brethren. 
Under such circumstances the prayer may be most 
suitable— that he who has the hearts of all his people 
in his hand, would turn the hearts of those that fear 
him, and know his testimonies unto their brethren. 
It was the distinguishing mark set upon Mordecai, 
that he was accepted of the multitude of his 
brethren.'' i In the primitive church it was recorded 
of Demetrius, that he had good report of all men, 
and of the truth itself" ^—and of the members of the 
church generally, that " they did eat their meat with 
gladness and singleness of heart ; praising God, and 
having favour luith all the peopled' ^ ' Then' — as 
Chrysostom exultingly exclaims-^ the Church was 
a little heaven.' Then they could say one to another 

^' Behold, how good and pleasant is it for brethren 

to dwell together in unity ; and even their Heathen 

1 Esth. X. 3. 23 John 12. ^ Acts ii. 46, 47. 

4 Psalm cxxxiii. 1. Most truly catholic was the rule of the 
excellent Philip Henry, and most consistently exemplified in his 
Christian conduct, determining ' in those things, in which all the 
people of God are agreed, to spend my zeal ; and as for other 



21-2 EXPOSITION OF PSALM CXIX. 

neighbours were awed and constrained to the confes- 
sion—'^ See how these Christians love one another/' 
Alas! that our Jerusalem should no longer exhibit 
the picture of a city compact together that so 
many walls of partition should separate brother 
from brother— so many hindrances should interpose- 
so that our Zion has very rarely been exhibited in 
her " perfection of beauty/' when the multitude 
of them that believed were of one heart and of one 
soul.'' 2 Prejudice and misconception divided Job 
from his friends. 3 Want of forbearance cankered 
the union of the members of the church of Rome/i 
and even prevailed to separate chief friends— Paul 
and Barnabas. 5 Diversity of sentiment injured the 
influence of brotherly love at Corinth. ^ And thus 
it has been in every successive age of the Church; 
so that the period is yet prospective, when the full 
answer to the Redeemer's prayer and the grand 
display to the world of the Divine original of the 
gospel, shall be manifested.' But as the com- 
munion of saints " was the peculiar feature of primi- 
tive Christianity, and has continued from the earliest 
times of the Church to form an article of her faith ; 
we may conclude, that, in proportion as we return 
to the primitive standard, we shall hold closer fellow- 
ship with each other— as members of one body"8 
considering one another, to provoke unto love and 
to good works " 9—'^ bearing one another's burdens," 
and receiving one another as Christ also received 

things about \vhich they differ, to walk according to the li-ht God 
hath given me, and charitably to beheve others to do so too — 
Lite, U iiliam's Edition, p. 127. 

I Psalm cxxii. 3. 2 j^i^. ]. 9. with Acts iv. 32. 

- Job VI. 29. 4 Korn. xiv. xv. 1—7. ^ ^cts xv. 37. 

1 Cor.i. 10—12. ^ Johnxvii.21. s iCor.xii 1-^—97 
^ Heb. X. 24. 2; v. 13. 



VERSE 79. 



213 



us to the glory of God." ^ Want of Christian self- 
denial presents the main hinderance to this " keeping 
the unity of the spirit in the bond of peace. ^' But 
— admitting that some of the brethren are weak in 
the faith ^' in comparison with ourselves — are we then 
to be * rolling endlessly the returning stone - — obtrud- 
ing always the same stumbling offence upon them ? ' ^ 
We are " not to please ourselves " in compellino; them 
to adopt our views ; but rather to " receive them, and 
bear their infirmities.'' ^ Accursed be that charity 
that is preserved by the shipwreck of faith ! " But 
though scriptural truth must never be denied, there 
are times, when it may be forborne. The apostle 
knew and was persuaded of the Lord Jesus, that 
there was nothing unclean of itself ; 5 yet he would 
rather allow even the misconception of conscience until 
clearer light should be given, than endanger the unity 
of the Church. Liberty must give place to love ; 
and for himself, he would rather restrain himself from 
lawful indulgence, than hazard the safety of a weaker 
brother, or turn from one that loved his Saviour.^ 
Wherever therefore in the judgment of Christian 
charity we discover those that love our Lord Jesus 
Christ in sincerity," T we must be ready to give them 
our very hearts, to view them as brethren, as one with 
ourselves, and to welcome them with our expressions 
of brotherly love, as those whom, with all their infir- 
mities, Jesus ^' is not ashamed to call his brethren." ^ 
We must be ready to " turn to them,'' as those " that 
fear God, and have known his testimonies,'' 

And may not the believer's anxiety for the company 

* Rom. XV. 7. ^ Morning Exercises, Oct. 1682. 

3 Rom. xiv. 1. 4 Ibid. xv. i. ^ Ibid. xiv. 14. 

^ Ibid. xiv. 13, 15. 1 Cor. viii. 13. 
" Ephes. vi.24. Comp. 1 John iii. 14. » n^)^^ -^i. 11, 12. 



214 EXPOSITION OF PSALM CXIX. 

and assistance of the Lord's people, serve as a rebuke 
to Christian professors, who are far too closely linked 
to the society of the world ? Surely, if they are so 
easily attracted by the loveliness of many of its most 
avowed votaries, as to overlook the absence of their 
Saviour's image, for the sake of what is congenial to 
their self-indulgent taste, they can have but little 
relish for that heavenly enjoyment, which unites Chris- 
tians together in close and hallowed communion with 
God. And is it not a proof of the deteriorating in- 
fluence of this worldly spirit, that we so often find 
them ready to take disgust at the infirmities of the 
real brethren of the Lord, and to neglect the im^ge 
of Christ in them, from the unsio'htliness of the garb, 
in which it may sometimes be covered 1 

But let us mark the completeness of the character 
of the established Christian — combining the fear with 
the knowledge of God. Knowledge without fear 
would be presumption. Fear without knowledge 
would be bondage. But the fear of God connected 
with an acquaintance with his ways, moulds the Chris- 
tian character into the spirit of love ; and qualifies 
them as fathers" ^ in the gospel, to be honoured 
instruments in the Lord's hands to counsel the weak 
and inexperienced. Should however any providential 
hinderance exclude us from the privilege of their inter- 
course, and prevent them from turning unto us,'' it 
may be the appointed means of leading us to a more 
simple dependence on divine teaching and grace, and 
to a more blessed anticipation of our Father's house 
in heaven, where all will be harmony, peace and love. 
' We shall carry truth and the knowledge of God to 
heaven with us ; we shall carry purity thither, devoted- 



^ 1 JohniL 13, 14. 



VERSE 80. 215 

ness of soul to God and our Redeemer, divine love 
and joy, if we have their beginnings here, with what- 
soever else of permanent excellence, that hath a 
settled fixed seat and place in our souls now ; and 
shall there have them in perfection. But do you 
think we shall carry strife to heaven ? Shall we carry 
anger to heaven? Envyings, heart-burnings, ani- 
mosities, shall we carry these to heaven with us ? 
Let us labour to divest ourselves and strike off from 
our spirits every thing that shall not go with us to 
heaven, or is equally unsuitable to our end and way, 
that there may be nothing to obstruct and hinder 
our abundant entrance at length into the everlasting 
kingdom.' ^ 

80. Let my heart he sound in thy statutes, that I be 
not ashamed. 

How^ many " have made shipwreck of faith and 
of a good conscience,"- from a heart unsound " in^ 
the Lord's statutes ! " Not having seen the spiri- 
tual requirements of the statutes, and resting in an 
outward obedience, they falsely conceive themselves 
to be " alive without the law," s and, touching the 
righteousness that is of the law, blameless." ^ Others 
go a little beyond the surface ; while the want of 
'^simplicity and godly sincerity," of brokenness of 
heart, love to the Saviour, and dependence upon his 
grace, sooner or later discovers to their eternal con- 
fusion, that ''the root of the matter is" not "in 

1 Howe's Works, vol. iv. 126, 127.—' It will be one of the 
felicities of heaven' (as Milner sweetly remarks upon the pre- 
judices subsisting between Bernard and the supposed heretics 
of his day) ' that saints shall no longer misunderstand each 
other/ — Milner*s History of the Church, iii. 384. 

2 1 Tim. i. 19. ^ Rom. vii. 9. Phil. iii. 6. 



216 EXPOSITION OF PSALM CXIX. 

them." " Their root shall be as rottenness, and their 
blossom shall go up as dust/' Their goodness is 
as a morning cloud, and as the early dew it goeth 
away.'' i An unsound professor, like beautiful fruit, 
may attract the eye of a cursory beholder : but a 
more narrow inspection will shew a worm at the core, 
which has spoiled nearly to the surface. 2 Such a 
religion can be described in no other view than as a 
shrivelled mass of inactive formality — a dead image 
of a living thing. Alas ! how common is it to profess 
to take Christ for a Saviour, while the heart is evidently 
worshipping Mammon as its God ! How possible is 
it to be ^^carnally-minded" in the midst of daily 
engagements in spiritual exercises! How important 
is the recgllection, that no change of place, of com- 
pany, or of circumstances, can of itself effect a change 
of heart. " Saul among the prophets " was Saul still ; 
with '^another heart " 3 indeed, but not a new heart. 
Sin was restrained, but not crucified. He went 
out" therefore, as one of his progenitors, ''from the 
presence of the Lord,"^ and perished a miserable 
apostate from the statutes of his God. Need we speak 
of Judas, — a follower — a preacher— an apostle of Jesus 
Christ — living in famihar intercourse with his Lord— 
yet with all his privileges —all his profession—'' gone 
to his own place "5_the melancholy victim of his 
own self-deceitfulness ? Need we allude to Balaam — 
" the man whose eyes were open — which heard the 
words of God— which saw the vision of the Almighty " 
— who could in the ken of his eye mark the goodliness 
of the inheritance of the Lord, and even in the distant 

^ Isaiah v. 24. Hos. vi. 4. 

2 Quae splendent in conspectu hominis, sordent in conspectu 
judicis. Compare Luke xvi. 15. 1 Sam. xvi. 7. 

3 1 Sam. X. 9—12. 4 Qen. iv. 16. 5 ^^ts i. 25. 



VERSE 80. 



217 



horizon catch a glimpse of Jacob's star and sceptre ; 

and yet " loved the icages of unrighteousness ? " ^ Need 
we bring to the mind's eye Ananias and Sapphira^ — 
Alexander ^ and Demas ^ — and others of the same 
stamp of unsoundness— all of whom once shone as 
stars 5 in the firmament of the church — need we speak 
of the end of these men, to give energy to the prayer 
— " Let my heart be sound in thy statutes ? " How 
fearful the thought of being a branch in the true 
vine" only by profession! to be taken away "at 
length — cast forth as a branch —withered — gathered 
— cast into the fire— burned ! " ^ It is in the inner man 
that hypocrisy sets up its throne ; whence it commands 
the outward acts into whatever shape or form may be 
best suited to effect its purpose. The upright Chris- 
tian will therefore begin with calling in the help and 
light of God to ascertain the ^' soundness of his heart, 
" Search me, O God, and know my heart ; try me and 
know my thoughts ; and see if there be any wicked 
way in me."' Can that " heart," which is found upon 
inquiry to be earthly — unprofitable under the power 
of the word regarding '^secret iniquity " 9 — seek- 
ing bye-ends of praise, reputation, or gain ^° — and 
for the attainment of these ends shrinking from the 
appointed cross — can that " heart he sound in the 
Lord^s statutes ? " Impossible ! 

But on the other hand, do you find that your trust 
in God is sincere, your desire towards him supreme, 
your obedience to him entire ? Prize these evidences 

1 Num. xxiv. 2—5; 17. 2 Peter ii. 15. ^ Acts v. 1—10. 

2 Acts xix. 33, 34, with 1 Tim. i. 20. 2 Tim. iv. 14. 
^ Coi. iv. 14. Phile. 24, with 2 Tim. iv. 10. ^ Rev. xii. 4. 

^ John XV. 2, 6. 7 Psalm cxxxix. 23, 24. 

s Heb. vi. 8. Psalm Ixvi. 18. 

10 2 Kings ix. 16.' ■ n John xii. 43. 

Ibid. vi. 26. ITim. vi. 5. 



218 EXPOSITION OF PSALM CXIX. 

of soundness of heart.'' Thank God for them ; 
for they are the workings of his mighty Spirit in your 
heart— perhaps the answers to the prayers which that 
same Spirit had indited—'' Let my heart be sound in 
thy statutes^' Diligently use all God's means for 
keeping your heart in a sound and healthy state. Be 
daily— yea continually abiding in the vine, and re- 
ceiving life and health from the fulness. ^ Be much 
conversant with the word of God— loving it for itself 
— for its holiness— for its practical influences. Be 
chiefly afraid of inward decays— of a barren, sapless 
notion of experimental truth, remembering, that, 
except your profession be constantly watered at the 
root, " the things that remain in you will be ready to 
die." - Specially '' commune with your OAvn heart ; " 
and watch it jealously, because of its pronenessto live 
upon itself— its own graces or fancied goodness (a sure 
symptom of unsoundness)— instead of living by the 
faith of the Son of God. " Examine your settled 
judgment, your deliberate choice, your outgoing 
aftections, your habitual allowed practice — applying 
to every detection of unsoundness the blood of Christ, 
as the sovereign remedy for the diseases of a deceitful 
and desperately wicked heart. 

But it may be said— will not these exercises of godly 
jealousy hinder our Christian assurance ? Far from it. 
They will form an efficient preservative from carnal 
security. They will induce increasing wakefulness, 
activity, and circumspection in our daily walk ; and 
thus, instead of retarding the enjoyment of Christian 
privilege, they will settle the foundation of a peaceful 
temperament within. It is thus, that the " sound 
heart " is connected with " a hope that maketh not 



John XY. 4, 5. 



2 Rev. iii. 2. 



VERSE 80. 219 

ashamed ''—the full blessing of Christian confidence. 
For the heart is made sound by being sprinkled with 
the blood of Christ ; and when thus " sprinkled from 

an evil conscience," it is prepared to " draw near " 

even to enter into the holiest "—'^ in full assurance 
of faith." 1 Thus shall we realize the boldness and 
near access of adopted children ; while we anticipate 
the coming of our Lord as the glorious consummation 
of all the prospects of faith—'' Herein is our love 
made perfect, that vje may have boldness in the day 
of judgment, - 

1 See Heb. x. 19—22. 2 i jo^n iv. 17. 



L 2 



220 



EXPOSITION OF PSALM CXIX. 



PART XI. 

81. My soul faintethfor thy salvation; but I hope in 

thy word. 

The salvation of the Gospel was the constant object 
of faith and desire to the Lord's people, under the 
dispensation of the Old Testament. Long had the 
Church triumphed in the glowing anticipation, and 
as if in the full possession, of the promised blessing— 
It shall be said in that day, Lo, this is our God ; 
we have waited for him and he will save us ; this is 
the Lord, we have waited for him, we will be glad 
and rejoice in his salvation. I will greatly rejoice in 
the Lord, my soul shall be joyful in my God ; for 
he hath clothed me with the garments of salvation, he 
hath covered me with the robe of righteousness, as a 
bridegroom decketh himself with ornaments, and as a 
bride adorneth herself with her jewels.'' ^ And as it 
was the joy of their living moments, so was it the 
support and consolation of their dying moments. I 
have waited for thy salvation, O Lord " ^— was the 
expression of the dying Patriarch's faith. The last 
words of this " sweet Psalmist of Israel," whose soul 
was 7101V fainting for God's salvation,'' are marked by 
the same confidence in a dark and foreboding prospect 
as regarded his family—'' Although my house be not 
so with God, yet he hath made with me an everlasting 
covenant, ordered in all things and sure ; for this is 
all my salvation and all my desire, although he make 



1 Isaiah xxv. 9 ; Ixi. 1 0. 



2 Gen. xlix. 18. 



VERSE 81. 221 

it not to grow." i Good old Simeon in the break of 
the gospel-day was ready to depart in peace, for 
his eyes had seen God's salvation." ^ And if our 
souls are under the heavenly influence of this salva- 
tion, we shall naturally appropriate these feelings of 
ancient believers to ourselves ; nor will any interpreter 
but experience be needed to explain them. The un- 
easiness that is felt in any interruption of our enjoy- 
ment, will shew the soul to be ''fainting for this 
salvation,'' Nothing will satisfy but the Saviour. — 
The templing offer of " all the kingdoms of the 
world, and the glory of them," will fail in attraction. 
Still the cry will be — '' Say unto my soul, I am 
thy salvation." 3 Let thy mercies come also 

unto me, Lord, even thy salvation according to 
thy word,'' ^ 

' If I am the lowest expectant of this salvation, I 
ought to feel myself richer than the sole possessor 
of this world's portion. And therefore if the Lord 
hides his face, I would look to no other quarter; I 
would stay by him, and '' wait on him," though days 
and months and years may pass away, '' until he have 
mercy upon me."^ '' My soul faint eth for his salva- 
tion ;" and with ' the fullest cup of earth's best joy ' 
pressed to my lips, my heart would burst with despair 
of satisfaction, ''but" that '' I hope in his ivord," 
'' By this hope I am saved." ^ In *' the patience of 
hope," 7 I am resolved to wait until the last moment, 
lying at the footstool of my Saviour. I am looking 
for the ''assurance of this hope "^ — when I shall be 
able to anticipate the prospect of eternity, and with 
" the earnest of" the heavenly " inheritance " in my 

1 2 Sam. xxiii. 5. ^ Luke ii. 28— 30. ^ Psalm xxxv. 3. 
4 Verse 41. ^ Psalm cxxiii. 1, 2. ^ Rom. viii. 24. 

7 1 Thess. i. 3, s Heb. vi. li. 

L 3 



222 EXPOSITION OF PSALM CXIX. 

soul, to echo the voice of my coming Saviour — Even 
so come. Lord Jesus." 

Oh ! how precious and important a part of oiu- armour 
is Hope! As an helmet/' ^ it has ^'covered our 
head in the day of battle," from many a fier^^ dart 
of the wicked." In times of darkness— when the rest- 
less foe hides the prospect from the eye of faith, and 
the child of God can scarcely, if at all, mount up and 
siug'—even then Hope remains, and lights a taper in 
moments dark as the chambers of the oTave—'' Yet 
the Lord will command his loving-kindness in the dav- 
time ; and in the night season his song shall be with 
me, and my prayer unto the God of my life." 3 .^nd 
when the afflicted tempest-tossed soul is tremblino; at 
the prospect of impending danger — at this moment of 
infinite peril, Hope holds out the " anchor sure and 
stedfast ; " ^ so that in the awful crisis, when deep 
calleth unto deep, and all the waves and billows are 
going over us," ^ n^ost unexpectedly " an entrance is 
ministered unto us abundantly,'' in the Lord's best time, 
into our desired haven." ^ And it is this hope alone 
that sustains us. Were we to conceive of God ac- 
cording to the notions of our own hearts, we should 
give way to most unbelieving impatience. But in the 
believing apprehension of the Divine character — as it 
shines forth in the word with such love and wisdom, 
such tenderness and gTace — our hope is increased and 
encouraged. The strength of the strongest of God's 
people proves but small, when afflictions press heavy 
and expected help is delayed. But though the soul 
fainteth," it cannot fail. Fixed upon the promises 
of God, it gathers strength and hope. The word 



^ Rev. xxii. 20. 
3 Psalm xlii. 8. 
^ Psalm slii. 7. 



- Ephes. vi. 17. 1 Thess. v. 8. 
^ Heb. vi. 19. 

6 2 Peter i. U. Psalm evil. 30. 



VERSE 82. 223 

of God is faith's sure venture for eternity— stamped 
with such a marvellous mysterious impression of Divine 
dory and faithfuhiess, and communicating such Divine 
power and refreshment, that the believer cannot but 
produce his experience of its efficacy for the support 
of his tempted brethren. — I had fainted unless I 
had beUeved to see the goodness of the Lord in the 
land of the living. Wait on the Lord : be of good 
courage, and he shall strengthen thine heart : wait, I 
say, on the Lord." ^ 

82. Mine eyes fail for thy word, saying, When wilt 
thou comfort me ? 

Though the believer may be enabled in the habitual 
working of faith to sustain his ''hope in the word" 
of his God, yet hope deferred maketh the heart 
sick.'' 2 Perhaps you feel, Christian, that you have 
waited long ; and still the promise is delayed. But 
what is the blessing that you are waiting for ? If it 
regards the actual life of your soul, this, as being 
absolutely necessary, is both promised and given. If 
it regards your spiritual enjoyment, its time and measure 
must be left with the Lord. Meanwhile do not fear, 
that by the protracted delay the blessing is Hkely to 
escape from you. You will find, in the end, that per- 
severance in waiting has turned to double advantage ; 
and that many prayers have been offered, and impor- 
tant blessings vouchsafed, even when sensible refresh- 
ment and acceptance were withheld. Xothing indeed 
even in the most severe and protracted trial is lost, 
when faith can see that the purpose of God in it, is to 
bring the wayward will into more subjection to himselt^ 



1 Psalm xxvii. 13, 14. 



- Prov, xiii. 12. 



224 EXPOSITION OF PSALM CXIX. 

Yea— the blessing will be so much the sweeter, as 
being vouchsafed in the Lord's best time. Waiting 
time — though to the eye of carnal reason it may seem 
to be lost— is not so in reality. The believer, at the 
very time that his " eyes fail for " the fuliilment of 
the ivord,'^ desires still to submit, to wait, and pray, 
that the interval may be improved and sanctified. 
Thus, instead of its proving a time of hardness, indo- 
lence, or carelessness — the Lord's return to the soul is 
anticipated the more intensely as his absence had been 
felt to be the most painful trial. For as well might 
the stars supply the place of the sun, as outward com- 
forts, or even the external duties of religion supply to 
the waiting soul the place of an absent God. 

Never however let us forget, that the real cause 
of separation between God and the sinner is removed. 
The way of access is opened by the blood of Jesus ; ^ 
and in this way we must be found waiting, until he 
look upon us. Here will our cry — When wilt thou 
comfort me ? '^ be abundantly answered ; and though 
the sovereignty of God will be exhibited in the time 
and measure of his consolations, yet the general rule 
will be — according to your faith be it unto you." 2 

But if unbelief has clouded the Christian's com- 
fort — let his eye be directed with more simple faith 
to the word " as testifying of Jesus. From this 
testimony alone must he expect his comfort ; and 
the more confidently he expects, the more patiently 
he will look. Nor will the blessing be denied or pro- 
bably long delayed. The covenant warns him indeed 
to expect rebuke for his sin. 3 But still restoration 
and acceptance are assured to him. He will obtain 
— not the spurious comfort of the hypocrite, which 

^ Heb. X. 19, 20. 
2 Matt. ix. 2y. 3 Psalm Ixxxix. 30—32. 



VERSE 82. 225 

is consistent with sin and backsliding of heart — but 
the wholesome comforts, founded upon the word of 
promise, and connected with contrition, peace, love, 
joy, and triumph. The gospel shews hell deserved, 
and heaven purchased — -thus combining conviction and 
faith. Indeed conviction without faith would be legal 
sorrow ; as assurance without conviction would be 
gospel presumption. Paul's experience happily united 
both. Never was man at the same moment more 
exercised with conflict, and yet more established in 
assurance 1 —Thus may we expect to maintain our 
assurance as really in wrestling trouble as in exult- 
ing joy ; honouring the Lord by an humble, patient 
spirit — in Bernard's resolution — ' I will never come 
away from thee without thee ' — in the true spirit of the 
wrestling patriarch—'' I will not let thee go, except 
thou bless me." ^ 

It may be that we sometimes seem to go— as Job 
says — mourning without the sun " ^ — shut up, 
and we cannot come forth '' ^ — straitened in our de- 
sires, our hopes and expectations — doing little for 
the Lord — with little enjoyment in our own souls, 
and little apparent usefulness to the church. But at 
such seasons it is our clear path of duty and privilege 
to ''wait for the Lord," — to "wait upon the Lord, 
that hideth his face from the house of Jacob, and to 
look for him ^ He " waiteth that he maybe gra- 
cious.— He is a God of judgment ; and blessed are 
all they that wait for him." ^ 

1 Comp. Rom, vii. 14—25. ^ Gen. xxxii. 26. 

3 Job XXX. 28. ^ Psalm Ixxxviii. 8. ^ Isa. viii. 17. 

^ Isaiah xxx. 18. * Thou may est seek after honours, and not 
obtain them ; thou mayest labour for riches, and yet remain poor ; 
thou mayest dote on pleasures, and have many sorrows. But our 
God of his supreme goodness says — Who ever sought me, and 
found me not ? Who ever desired me, and obtained me not ? Who 

L 5 



226 



EXPOSITION OF PSALM CXIX. 



83. For I am become like a bottle in the smoke ; yet 
do I not forget thy statutes. 

The shrivelled appearance of bottles of skin (such 
as the deceitful Gibeonites brought to Joshua i), hung; 
up in the smoke, afforded to David a lively and affect^ 
ing picture of the state to which his long-protracted 
afflictions had reduced him. Thus he elsewhere de- 
scribes the same state of affliction under somewhat 
similar figures—^' I am like a broken vessel. My 
days are consumed like smoke, and my bones are 
burned as an hearth/^ 2 Thus also Job speaks of 
himself—^' My skin is black upon me, and my bones 
are burne(I with heat.'' 3 The church gives nearly 
the same representation of her deep distress—'^ Our 
skin was black like an oven, because of the terrible 
famine." ^ And lastly, the same affecting view does the 
Saviour give of the effect of suffering upon his tender 
frame— My strength is dried up like a potsherd, 
and my tongue cleaveth to my jaws.''^ Ciu'istian ! 
Is not this the way, in which the Lord is trying your 
faith, and training you for higher exercises, and more 
enduring conflicts? Is it not thus, that he proves 
his own faithfulness towards you, by enabling you 
to exhibit the reality and power of his own gTace in 
you — in that you would rather pine away in affliction, 
than " make a way of escape by sin ? Does he not 
thus manifest your relation to Chi'ist by causing his 

ever loved me, and missed of me ? I am with him that seeks for 
me.^ He hath me dready, that wisheth for me ; and he that loveth 
me IS sure of my love. The way to come to me is neither long nor 
difficult.'-— Augustine. 

^ Josh. ix. 4. 

2 Psalm xxxi. 12 ; cii. 3. Compare Pro v. xvii. 22. 
Job XXX. 30. 4 i^^^r,^^ ^ 5 Psalm xxii. 15. 



VERSE 88. ^'21 

sufferings to abound in you/' and making you ^'bear 
in your body the marks of the Lord Jesus ? " ^ And 
do you not thus realize, as you could not otherwise 
do, the sympathy of our High Priest ? For this 
was the special character of his earthly trials — a root 
out of a dry ground, having no form nor comeliness, 
and no beauty that he should be desired— despised 
and rejected of men''- to the end of their days. 
Oh ! what a supporting cordial to his afflicted people 
is the sympathy of this suffering— tempted Saviour ! 2 

But to look at David, under his long-continued 
trials, enabled to preserve his recollection of the Lord's 
statutes— what a striking evidence of the presence 
of his God with him, of the power of his grace, and 
the sufficiency of his word to supply unfailing sup- 
port under the most afflictive circumstances. ^ How- 
then is it that we— with the full display of Christ in 
the Scriptures — so seldom derive the same support 
from them ? The reason is— we do not open our 
Bibles in a dependent, prayerful, and humble spirit— 
simply looking for the revelation of Christ to om' 
souls ! to mark his glory, and to increase in the know- 
ledge of Him. If it were thus with us, we should 
have more to say of the comfort of remembering the 
Lord's statutes ; " and in the hour of trial we should 
know their astonishing power in upholding the soul, 
when all other stays were found as ''the trust in the 
shadow of Egypt — shame and confusion. " ^ 

Job's historv strikindv illustrates both the trial 
and its sanctified results. When scraping himself 
with a potsherd, and sitting down among the ashes,'' 
— the temporary victim of Satanic power — he might 
well have taken up the complaint — I am becoynt 

1 Gal. vi. 17. - Isa. iiii. 2, 3. ^ Heb. iv. \~ - ii. 18. 
4 John V. 39. ^ Isaiah XXX. 1—3. 



228 EXPOSITION OF PSALM CXIX. 

like a bottle in the smoke,'' But when in this hour 
of depression he was enabled to resist the tempter 
in the person of his own wife, and commit himself 
with implicit resignation into the hands of his faithful 
God— ''What! shall we receive good at the hand 
of God ; and shall we not receive evil ?" i-he mioht 
with equal propriety have expressed the confidence 
Yet do I not forget thy statutes.'' This confidence 
must be regarded as an encouraging seal of the Lord's 
love on our souls. For surely we never should have 
remembered his statutes, had not he first remembered 
us— had he not wi'itten his covenant promises upon 
our hearts, and fulfilled them in our experience. 2 While 
therefore this perseverance under protracted trials 
exhibits a 'glorious display of the upholding power 
of his gi-ace, how much more honourable is it to him 
than the desponding complaint—'' The Lord hath 
forsaken me, and my God hath forgotten me ! " ^ 
How sinful then is that indulgence of proud sullenness 
under every little trial— such as the coldness of friends, 
the unkindness of enemies, or the providential dispen- 
sations of our heavenly Father— to allow hard thoughts 
of him, whose name and character, " without variable- 
ness or shadow of turning, "_is " Love \" If we de- 
sire to " glorify God in the fires," 4 let us learn to 
trust the Lord in the long and wearisome seasons 
of tribulation. It is " when against hope we believe 
in hope, not staggering at the promise of God through 
unbelief," that we are " strong in faith, giving glory 
to God." 5 

1 Jobii. 7—10. 2 jej.^ xxxi. 31—34. 3 igaiah xlix. 14. 
4 Ibid.xxiv. 15. 5 Rom.iv. 18, 20. 



VERSES 84, 85. 



229 



84. How ynany are the days of thy servant ? When 
wilt thou execute judgment on them that perse- 
cute me? — 85. The proud have digged pits for , 
me^ which are not after thy law. 

Though in the severe exercise of long-continued 
affliction, we may be enabled in the stedfastness of our 
confidence *'not to forget the statutes of our God, 
yet we shall hasten to carry our complaint before him 
— How many are the days of thy servant ? — my 
days of affliction under the fury of the oppressor " 
— " the days of my pilgrimage" in this wilderness of 
trouble. — Here again he exhibits the mark of God's 
elect, in crying day and night to his God, though he 
bore long with him," Christian ! mark this instruc- 
tive pattern ; and when exposed to the lawless per- 
secutions and devices of the proud," forget not your 
hiding-place. God in Chi'ist is your strong hold, 

whereunto you may continually resort." ^ He hath 
given commandment to save you/' ^ Your trial has 
done its appointed work, when it has brought you to 
him ; and inclined you, after your blessed Master^s 
example, instead of taking the vengeance into your 
own hands, to commit yourself and your cause *'to 
him that judgeth righteously." ^ « And this ^ — as 
Archbishop Leighton excellently observes — ' is the 
true method of Christian patience — that which quiets 
the mind, and keeps it from the boiling tumultuous 
thoughts of revenge ; to turn the whole matter into 
God's hands, to resign it over to him, to prosecute 
when and as he thinks good. Not as the most, who 
had rather, if they had power, do for themselves, and 

^ Luke xviii. 7. ^ Psalm Ixxi. 3. 

2 1 Peter ii. 23, and Archbishop Leighton on the passage. 



230 EXPOSITION OF PSALM CXIX. 

be their own avengers ; and, because they have not 
power, do offer up such bitter curses and prayers for 
revenge unto God, as are most hateful to him, and are 
far from this calm and holy way of committing matters 
to his judgment. The common wav of referring thino-s 
to God is indeed impious and dishonourable to him, 
being really no other than calling him to be a servant 
and executioner of our passion, We ordinarily mis- 
take his justice, and judge of it according to our own 
precipitant and distempered minds. If wicked men 
be not crossed in their designs, and their wickedness 
evidently crushed, just when we would have it, we 
are ready to give up the matter as desperate, or at 
least to abate of those confident and reverent thoughts 
of Divine justice which we owe him. However things 
go, this ought to be fixed in our hearts, that he that 
sits in heaven judgeth righteously, and executes that 
his righteous judgment in the fittest season.' The 
acceptance of the cry of the martp's under the altar,^ 
clearly shews ^'that it is a righteous thing with the 
Lord to recompense tribulation to them that trouble 
his people, and to them that are ti'oubled, rest." - 
Some Christians indeed have known but little of trials 
of " cruel mockings ^ and bitter persecutions. Let 
such be thankful for the merciful exemption from this 

hardness ; but let them prepare for the conflict. 
Let none us, in the determination to live ffodlv in 
Christ Jesus expect to escape persecution. '' ^ Let 
us count the cost ^ of suftering for Christ, whether 
we shall be able to abide it. For the mere spiritless 
notions, or for the unenlivened forms of religion, of 
which we have never felt the power, nor tasted the 



^ See Rev. vi. 9—11, 
3 Heb. xi. 36. 
^ Ibid. iii. 12. 



" 2 Thess. i. 6, 7. 
^ 2 Tim. ii. 3. 
^ Luke xiv. 28. 



VERSE 86. '231 

sweetness, it would be little worth our while to ex- 
pose ourselves to inconvenience. But if we have ever 
understood the grand substantial of the Gospel — 
if w^e have ever clearly been assured of their reality, 
practically acknowledged their influence, and experi- 
mentally realized their enjoyment, we shall be ready 
to meet the persecuting malice of ''the proud" in 
defence of a treasure dearer to us than life itself. 
Should we however be too rich to part with all for 
Christ, or too high in the estimation of the world to 
confess the despised followers of Jesus, it will be no 
marvel, or rather a marvel of mercy, if the Lord 
should sweep away our riches, and suffer " the proud 
to dig pits for us'' and to ''have us in derision.'' 
To make this world ' ' a wilderness or a land of dark- 
ness " to us, may be his wisely- ordained means to turn 
us back to himself as our portion, to his word as our 
support, to his people as our choice companions, and 
to heaven as our eternal rest, 

86. All thy commandments are faithful : they persecute 
me wrongfully : help thou me. 

In the lengthened duration of the trials of the Lord's 
people, the " eyes fail with looking upward," the 
voice of prayer grows faint, and in a moment of weak- 
ness the faithfulness of God is almost questioned, as 
if they should go mourning to the very end of their 
days. It is at such a season that the recollection of 
the unchangeableness of God, and of the faithfulness 
of his word, is brought before the view of faith, by 
him who delights to shew himself " the Comforter 
of those that are cast down." ^ And thus they are 



^- 2 Cor. vii. 6, 



232 EXPOSITION OF PSALM CXIX, 

enabled to look up and lift up their heads/' and to 
go on their way/' if not rejoicing/' yet at least 
with humble acquiescence ; assured, that in the per- 
severance of faith and hope they shall ultimately be 
more than conquerors through him that loved us/' i 
Many Old Testament Histories beautifully illustrate 
the reward of this simplicity of faith in occasions 
(like David's) of temporal diflSculty. ^ Not indeed 
that any past successes can ever make us otherwise 
than utterly helpless in ourselves. When Asa's hands 
were made strong by the hands of the mighty God of 
Jacob his boiu abode in strength^ ^ When, at a 
subsequent period, he trusted in man and made flesh 
his arm, and his heart departed from the Lord,^^ ^ he 
became, like Samson, ''weak, and as another man.'' ^ 
Prosperity therefore is only to be found in the way of 
simple reliance on the faithfulness of the Lord's word, 
leaving our cause in his hands, and, in the simplicity 
of wetchedness looking upward for help — ' All thy 
commandments are faithful ; they persecute me wrong- 
fully ; help thou me.'' Wretched and forlorn L am 
— but thy truth is my shield/ Believer ! This is 
your only posture of resistance. Should your enter 
the field of conflict without this " shield of faith," 
some crevice will be found in your panoply, through 
which a fiery dart" will inflict a poisonous wound.^ 
But how can faith be exercised without a distinct 
acquaintance with the object of faith ? We cannot 
repose trust or expect help, in an unknown God — in 
an offended God, whom every day's transgression has 
made our enemy. There must then be reconciliation, 

^ Romans viii. 37. 

2 The examples of Asa, 2 Chron. xiv. 10— 12— and Jehoshaphat, 
2 Chron. xx. 1 — 30, may be referred to. 

3 Gen. xlix. 24. 4 Comp. Jer. xvii. 5—8. 
^ Judges xvi. 7, with 2 Chron. xvi. 7« ^ Eph. vi. 16. 



YERSE 87. 

before there can be help. Those therefore who are 
unreconciled by the death of Christ, send up their 
cries for help to a God, who does not hear, accept, or 
answer them. But when Christ is known as " the 
peace,'^ and the way of access to God, then there can 
be no instance of trial or difficulty, when our reliance 
upon the Lord has failed. Not indeed that we shall 
always return from the throne of grace with the 
wished- for relief. We may have brought our burden, 
and laid it before the Lord ; and yet through distrust 
or unbelief have neglected to leave it with him. Oh ! 
let us remember, when we go to Jesus, that we go to 
a tried, long-proved, and faithful friend. Dependence 
upon him is the only successful conflict. The " good 
fight" is the fight of faith." ^ We are best able 
to resist our enemy upon our knees; and such a 
prayer as t\i\^—" Help thou me,'' will bring down 
the strength of Omnipotence on our side. We might 
as well expect to crush a giant with a straw, as to 
enter the spiritual conflict with weapons of carnal 
warfare. The experience of every trial realizes more 
clearly the help of a faithful Saviour. He does indeed 
deliver gloriously ; and leaves us nothing to do but to 
stand still, wonder, and praise—'' Fear ye not ; stand 
still and see the salvation of the Lord, which he will 
shew to you to-day." ^ 

87. They had almost consumed me upon earth ; hut I 
forsook not thy precepts. 

And why did they not quite consume him ? Because 
'' the eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the 
whole earth, to shew himself strong in behalf of them 



1 1 Tim. vi. 12. 



2 Exod. xiv. 13, 14. 



234 EXPOSITION OF PSALM CXIX. 

whose heart is perfect towards him.''^ Surely the 
wrath of man shall praise thee : the remainder of 
wrath shalt thou restrain/' ^ And why have not our 
spiritual enemies ''consumed us upon earth? " Satan 
hath desired to have us, that he may sift us as wheat." 
" But,^^ saith the Saviour, ''I have prayed for you, 
that your faith fail notJ'^ " My sheep shall nevei* 
perish ; neither shall any pluck them out of my 
hand.'' 4 Neither long-continued distress/ nor deter- 
mined opposition,^ could turn the Psalmist's feet from 
the ways of God. He would rather ''forsake'' all that 
his heart held dear upon earth, than " the precepts'' 
of his God. And thus, the child of God, with what- 
ever intensity of affection he loves father and mother 
(and the influence of the gospel upon his heart has 
increased the sensibilities of his relative affections,) 
remembers who hath said — " He that loveth father 
and mother more than me is not worthy of me." 7 
Unlike the deluded professor ,s he has counted the 
cost of the tribulation and persecution of the Gospel ; 
and the result has only served to confirm his love and 
adherence to his heavenly Master. When we are 
tempted to neglect the precepts ; or when we fail to 
live in them, and to delight in them, it would be well 
to bring our hearts to this test — ' What would I take 
in exchange for them ? Will the good-will and 
approbation of the world compensate for the loss of 
the favour of God ! Could I be content to forego 
my gTeatest comforts, to " suffer the loss of all 
things,"^ yea, of life itself, rather than forsake one 
of the ways of God ? When I meet with such pre- 

i 2 Chron. xvi. 9. ^ Psalm Ixxvi. 12. ^ Luke xxii. 31, 32. 

4 John X. 28. 5 Verse 83. ^ Verses 84—86. 

7 Matt. X. 37. s Ibid. xiii. 21. ^ Phil. iii. 8. 

Acts XX. 24. 



VERSE 88. 23i 

cepts as link me to the daily cross, can I throw 
myself with simple dependence upon that Saviour, 
who has enofaged to supply strength for what he has 
commanded ? ' How often in times of spiritual temp- 
tation, if not of temporal danger, they had almost 
consumed us upon earth;" but -'in the mount ' 
of difficulty " the Lord has been seen." i Oh ! let 
each of us mark our road to Zion with multiplied 
Ebenezers, inscribed Jehovah-jireh — Jehovah-nissi - — 

By this I know that thou favourest me, because 
mine enemy doth not triumph over me. And as for 
me, thou upholdest me in mine integrity, and settest 
me before thy face for ever."' ^ 

What a view does this testimony give of the up- 
holdino' power of the grace of God! In themselves 
as weak as worms, how could believers stand against 
such an appalling array of hostile power ? Yet it is 
a great, but a true word, suitable for a babe in Christ 
as well as for an Apostle — I can do all things 
through Christ that strengtheneth me." ^ Yes, I can 
''wrestle even against principalities and powers" of 
darkness, if I be strong in the Lord and in the power 
of his might." ^ 

88. Quicken me after thy loving-kindness : so shall I 
keep the testimony of thy month, 

" God, who is rich in mercy, for his gTeat love 
wherewith he loved us, even when we were dead in 
sins, hath quickened us together with Christ. " ^ 
But do we not daily need to be constantly '^quickened 

^ In the Mount the Lord shall be seen, or shall appear, Jehovah- 
jireh. Gen. xxii. 14. Scott in loco. 

- Exodus xvii. 15. ^ p=alm xli. U, 12. ^ Phil, iv. 13. 
^ Ephes. yi, 10, 12. ^ Ibid, ii.4, 5. 



236 



EXPOSITION OF PSALM CXIX. 



after'' the same loTing-kindness '' of our God? 
For every breath of prayer, Divine influence must 
flow—'' Quicken us, and we shall call upon thy 
name.'' ^ For the work of praise, without the same 
influence, we are dumb. Hence the suppiication at 
the close of this psalm — O let my soul live, and it 
shall praise thee.^'^ For the exercise of every spiritual 
grace there must be the cry — Awake, north wind ; 
and come, thou south ; bloiv upon my garden, that the 
spices thereof may flow oiit.^'^ ^ Thus is the creature 
laid in the dust, and all the glory is given to God. 

Not that we are suflicient of ourselves to think any 
thing as of ourselves ; but our sufficiency is of God." * 

Why is it then that at one time we spring to duty 
as the joy bf our life, while at other times we are so 
chained down under the power of corruption, that we 
scarcely can put forth the feeblest exercise of the 
renewed nature ? The source of our life is the same — 

hid with Christ in God." ^ But the power of the 
flesh hinders its every motion.^ Hence the frequent 
returns of spiritual sloth, backwardness to prayer, and 
disrelish for heavenly things — sins deeply humbling in 
themselves, and aggiavated by the neglect of the 
plentiful provision laid up in Christ, not only for the 
life, but for the peace and joy of the soul. When 
therefore our supplies from this fulness are straitened by 
indolence or unbelief, let the prayer for the reviving 
influence of the Spirit be more urgently awakened — 

Quicken me after thy loving -kindness, A spirit 
of self-confidence too often paralizes our spiritual 
energy. We expect our recovery from a lifeless state 
by some more determined resolutions of our own, or 
some increased improvement of the various means of 

i Psaim Ixxx. IS. Verse 175. ^ Cant. iv. 16. 

4 2 Cor. iii. 5. ^ Col. iii. 3. ^ see Gal. v. 17. 



VERSE 88. 237 
grace. Let these means indeed be used with all dili- 
gence, but with the fullest conviction, that all means, 
all instruments, all helps of every kind, without the 
influence of the Spirit of grace, are dead. " It is the 
Spirit that quickeneth ; the flesh profiteth nothing." i 

These records of David's prayers strikingly mark 
the intensity of his desire to live to God. Every 
decay of strength and activity was as it were death to 
him, and stirred up the reiterated cry for quickening 
grace. Oh ! let us mourn over our own short-comings 
in Christian devotedness ; and for our own sake, for the 
Lord's sake, for the church's and the world's sake, 
sigh for a revival in our souls. Let our petitions be 
incessant, each one for himself—'" Quicken me"— 
Quicken this slothful heart of mine. Enkindle afresh 
the sacred spark within, and let me be all alive for 
thee.' Let faith be kept alive and active at the throne 
of gTace, and all will be alive ; our obligations will 
be deeply felt, and practically acknowledged. The 
title here given to the directory of our duty—" the 
testimony of God's mouth" gives increasing strength 
to our obligations. Thus let every word we read or 
hear be regarded as coming directly from the " mouth 
of God." 2 What reverence ! what implicit sub- 
mission does it demand ! May it ever find us in the 
posture of attention, humility, and faith! each one 
of us ready to say—" Speak, Lord ! for thy servant 
heareth."3 

1 John vi. 63. 2 comp. Judges iii. 20. » 1 Sara. iii. 9, 10. 



238 



EXPOSITION OF PSALM CXIX. 



PART XII. 



89. For ever, Lord, thy word is settled in heaven.— 
90. Thy faithfulness is unto all generations : 

thou hast established the earth, and it abideth 

91' They continue this day according to thine 
ordinances, for all are thy servants. 

The Christian will not confine his view to his own 
individual state. He will find an extended survey 
of the operations of God in his creation both useful 
and enlivening to him. It will lead him, as it here 
led David, to magnify the attributes of. God, and 
especially that of his unchanging faithfulness. Indeed, 
how can we account for a creation in ruins, a world in 
rebellion against its Maker, all failing of the grand 
end of their existence, and yet still continued in 
existence, but " because his faithfulness is unto all 
generations." How different is the contemplation 
of the Christian from the philosopher ! His is not 
a mere cold, speculative admiration ; but in order that 
he may discover some new view of the faithfulness 
of God, as the ground of his own dependence. And 
lie finds the unchangeableness of the word of God a 
real support to his soul—" Concerning thy testimonies 
I have known of old that thou hast founded them for 
ever. Thy word is true from the beginning ; and 
every one of thy righteous judgments endureth for 
ever."''- Every promise rests upon this solid foun- 
dation—" Heaven and earth shall pass away ; but my 



^ Verses 152, 160. Compare 1 Peter i. 25. 



VERSES 89—91. 239 

words shall not pass away." ^ Did we need further 
proof of his faithfulness, we should find it in the 
observation, that ''all things continue as they were 
from the beginning of the creation'' ^—^ token of his 
covenant with nature, that " while the earth remaineth, 
seed time and harvest, and cold and heat, and summer 
and winter, and day and night shall not cease 
and an emblem of his covenant with the seed of David, 
that he " will not cast them off for all that they have 
done." 4 In this widely-extended universe, " all are 
his servants:' ^^The stars in their courses"—'^ fire 
and hail, snow and vapours, stormy winds, fulfil his 
word. He sendeth forth his commandment upon 
earth: his word runneth very swiftly." ^ Man— the 
child of his Maker 6— created in his image 
destined for his glory is the only rebel and revolter 
in the earth. Most affecting is the appeal, that 
God himself is constrained to make concerning him ; 
'' Hear, O heavens, and give ear, O earth; for the 
Lord hath spoken. I have nourished and brought up. 
children, and they have rebelled against me ! " 9 

But what practical lesson may we derive from this 
contemplation? It may teach us the end for which 
we are created — " to be his servants." It may serve 
to shew us the reason, that we are not consumed." — 
I am the Lord ; I change not." It should warn 
sinners, how vain are their secret hopes, that God's 
word will fail of accomplishment—'' For ever, O 
Lord ! thy word is settled in heaven." It should 
remind the Lord's people of the security of their 
hopes — " Thy faithfulness is unto all generations. For 

1 Comp. Luke xxi. 28—33. ^ 2 Pet. iii. 4. ^ Gen. viii. 22. 

^ Jer. xxxi. 35, 36 ; xxxiii. 20, 21, 25, 26. 

5 Judges V. 20. Psalm cxlviii. 8 ; cxlvii. 15. ^ Deut. xxxii. 6. 

7 Gen.i. 27; v.- 1. ^ Isa. xliii. 7. 

9 Ibid. i. 2. ^ Mai. iii. 6. 



240 EXPOSITION OF PSALM CXIX. 

I have said— Mercy shall be built up for ever ; thy 
faithfulness shalt thou establish in the very heavens.'' i 
The decrees of the kings of the earth are settled" oa 
earth, and therefore are exposed to all the variations and 
weakness of a changing world. They may be revoked by 
themselves or by their successors, or die away of them- 
selves. Even the boasted basis of the " law of the 
Medes and Persians that altereth not," 2 ig discovered 
to be an empty sound, and long since has been swept 
away into oblivion. But while " the word settled " on 
earth has " waxed old like a garment, and perished ; " 
" the word settled in heaven" is raised above all the 
revolutions of the universe, andremaineth as the throne 
of God himself — unshaken and eternal— exhibiting the 
foundation of the believer's hope, and of the unbeliever's 
terror, to be alike unalterably fixed. 

But we may also take occasion to remark the fore- 
knowledge as well as the faithfulness of God. From 
the eternity that is past, as well as for the eternity that 
is to come, thy word is settled in heaven." Before 
this fair creation was marred, yea, before it was called 
into existence, its ruin was foreseen, and a remedy 
provided. The Lamb was slain from the founda- 
tion of the world," 3 and fore-ordained before^ that 
era. Coeval with this period a people were chosen 
in him,"^ and ''for ever the word was settled in 
heaven^^—" AW that the Father giveth me shall 
come to me."^ In regard also to the establishment 
of the Redeemer's kingdom upon earth, the decree 
is declared" — however earth and hell may combine 
— Yet have I set my king upon my holy hill of 
Zion." 7 And what a blessed encouragement to per- 



1 Psalmlxxxix. 2. 2 Dan. vi. 8. ^ j^g^^ ^iii, 8. 

4 1 Peter i. 20. Ephes. i. 4. ^ John vi. 37. 

' Psalm ii. 6-— 8. 



VERSE 92. 241 

severance in the grand work of bringing back " the 
lost sheep of the house of Israel," i and those other 
sheep " with them which are not of this fold"^ — 
that we do not depend upon the earnestness of our 
prayers, the wisdom of our plans, and the diligence 
of our endeavours, but upon the word" which is 
for ever settled in heaven." 

The Redeemer shall come to Zion, and unto them 
that turn from transgression in Jacob, saith the Lord, 
As for me, this is my covenant with them, saith the 
Lord— My Spirit that is upon thee and my words 
which I have put in thy mouth, shall not depart out 
of thy mouth, nor out of the mouth of thy seed, nor 
out of the mouth of thy seed's seed, saith the Lord, 
from henceforth and for ever." ^ 

I have sworn by myself, the icord is gone out 
of my mouth in righteousness, and shall not return, — 
That unto me every knee shall bow, every tongue shall 
swear." ^ 

92. Unless thy law had been my delights^ I should then 
have perished in mine afHiction, 

David had just spoken of the sure basis of the 
word. He now remembers its Divine support— and 
that at the time when he most needed it — in affliction. 
How many a false professor has been tried and cast 
by this hour of affliction,'' But the true Chi'istian 
— who has been sifted by temptation — who has en- 
dured the hardness" of persecution as a good soldier 
of Jesus Christ"^ — and who is ready rather to be 

consumed upon earth/' ^ than to shrink from his 
profession — this is the man whom his Master will 

1 Matt. XV. 24. 2 joiin x. 16. ^ Isaiah lix. 20, 21. 

^ Ibid. xlv. 23. ^ 2 Tim. ii. 3. ^ xerse 87. 

M 



242 EXPOSITION OF PSALM CXIX. 

lift up, and not make his foes to rejoice over him.'^^ 
It is the established rule of the kingdom of Christ — 

Them that honour me I will honour.*^ ^ Because 
thou hast kept the word of my patience, I also will 
keep thee from the hour of temptation, which shall 
come upon all the world, to try them that dwell upon 
the earth/' ^ Our Lord distinctly marks the character 
of his gracious support — Not as the world giveth, 
give I unto youJ^ ^ For indeed the world cannot 
conceive the present peace and enjoyment of the soul, 
when bowed down and overwhelmed with accumulated 
afflictions, to whom God has made his word a delight. 
However the believer's real character may be hidden 
from the world, the hour of trial abundantly proves, 
both what the word can do for him, and what a lost 
creature he would have been without it. In affliction 
friends mean well, but of themselves they can do 
nothing. They cannot speak to the heart. This is 
God's prerogative, ^ and his word is his voice. Man 
can only look on, feel, and call in by prayer heavenly 
support to the sinking soul. But for this support 
of the word of God, Jonah probably would have 

perished in his affliction." In the belly of the fish, 
as in the belly of hell," he appears to have recol- 
lected the experience of David under deep and awful 
desertion ; and in taking his language out of his 
mouth, as descriptive of his own dark and terrific 
condition, a ray of light and hope darted upon his 
dungeon walls. ^ Indeed it is a mystery how a sinner, 
destitute of the support and comfort of the word of 
God, can uphold himself in his trials. We cannot 

» Psalm XXX. 1. ^ j gam. ii. 30. ^ Rev. iii. 10. 

^ Johnxiv. 27. ^ Hos. ii. 14. Marg. 

^ Jonah ii. 3, with Psalm xUi. 7. The phraseology in the Ixx. 
is identical, as if it were a clear and distinct recollection of the 
Psalmist's expressions, when describing his ov/n state of desertion. 



VERSE 92. 



243 



wonder, that he should often ^' perish in his affliction ; " 
" his soul choosing strangling and death rather than 
his life. ^' ' But in order to derive support from the 
word, it must be ''our delights And for this 
the mere formal reading of it is utterly ineffectual. 
Who ever tasted its tried consolations in the mere 
performance of the outward duty ? No — Let it be 
simply received, diligently searched, and earnestly 
prayed over. Light will thus be vouchsafed to guide 
the heavy-laden to Him, who is the souFs present and 
eternal rest. ^ Then will its heavenly support and 
elevated enjoyment be fully manifested. It will be 
read as a reality, and taken as a cordial. The tempest- 
tossed soul will cast anchor upon it — Remember 
the word unto thy servant, upon which thou hast 
caused me to hope.^^ Each promise of the word will 
be found a staff, able — if we have faith to lean upon 
it — to bear the whole weight of sin, and care, and 
trial. 4 

It seems, however, that affliction " is our appointed 
lot, Man is born — and the child of God is twice 
born — '' to trouble, as the sparks fly up ward. But 
such is the infinite provision of support treasured up 
for the children of God in his word, that their pains 

^ Job viL 15. 

2 ' Delights' — instar omnium — instead of all manner of delights, 

3 Matt. xi. 28. It was the speech of an holy man — after God 
had made this precious text the messenger to open his dungeon 
of spiritual distress, and bring him into the light of inward joy — 
that he had better be without meat, drink, Hght, air, earth, life, 
and all, than without this one comfortable Scripture. * If one 
single promise ' — as Gurnal sweetly remarks in giving this story — 
* like an ear of corn rubbed in the hand of faith, and apphed by the 
Spirit of Christ — can afford such a full satisfying meal of joy to 
the hunger-bitten pining soul, O w^hat price can we set upon the 
whole field of Scripture, which stands so thick with promises every 
way as cordial as this ! ' — Gurnal on Ephesians vi. 17. 

Verse 49. ^ Job v. 7. 



M 2 



244 EXPOSITION OF PSALM CXIX. 

are fully compensated— yea, abimdanrly more than 
compensated. Christian ! " let the word of Christ 
dwell in you richly in all wisdom." ^ Let those parts of 
it be the main subject of your meditation, ^ which mark 
his person, ^ his character, offices, ^ life, 5 sulFerings, ^ 
and death, resurrection and glory, ^ together with 
the promises, encouragements, and prospects directly 
flowing from this blessed subject— and oh ! what a 
treasure-house will you find richly furnished with 
every source of delight, and every ground of support ! 

93. I will never forget thy precepts; for with them 
thou hast quickened me. 

An admirable resolution to form ! the blessed fruit 
of the quickening power of the word in his deep 
aiFiiction. He had before acknowledged this super- 
natural efficacy — Thy word hath quickened meJ^^ 
Kow he more distinctly mentions it, as the instrumental 
only — not the efficient — cause — With them thou hast 
quickened me,^' We must trace, therefore, the prin- 
ciple and exercise of the spiritual life to no other 
source than the Almighty Spirit of God opening our 
hearts to receive and love the precepts of God. Had 
the power been in the word, the same effect would 
have invariably followed. Nor should we have been 
constrained to lament the limited extent of this quick- 
ening influence. You remember. Christian ! how 
many shared with you in the outward privileges of 
the means of grace ; but perhaps unto none was the 

^ Col.iii. 16. 

^ Such as Isaiah liii. which in the compass of a single chapter 
sketches out his whole history. See below. 

s Isa. liii. 1, 2. ^ Ibid. ver. 4, 5, 12. ^ Ibid. ver. 3. 

^ Ibid. ver. 7—9. " Ibid. ver. 10. s ibid. ver. 10—12. 

^ Verse 50. 



VERSE 93. 



245 



life-giving influence vouchsafed, save unto yourself — 
the most unlikely — the most unworthy of all.^ This 
was the sovereign grace of God. And have not these 
same precepts'' been often since as wells of sal- 
vation," channels of life, refreshment, consolation to 
your soul } lively in themselves, and lively to your 
soul? Surely then you have reason to say—'* / will 
never forget thy precepts.'' The leaves of the word 
of God — so to speak — are the leaves of the tree of life, 
as well as of the tree of knowledge. They not only 
enlighten the path, but they supply life for daily walk 
and progress. The words that I speak upon you " — 
said Jesus — they are spirit and they are life ; " - so 
that we cannot forget the precepts as the channel by 
which our spiritual life is exerted and maintained. 
Men of the world, however, with accurate recollections 
of all matters connected with their temporal advantage 
are remarkably slow in retaining the truths of God's 
words. They complain of their short memories, and 
rest in what they imagine a natural infirmity ; although 
conscious that this excuse does not extend to their 
important secular engagements. But what wonder is 
it, that their memories are so treacherous ? The word 
of God is not precious to them : they acknowledge 
no obligation to it : they have no acquaintance with 
it. It has no place in their aff'ections, and therefore 
but little abode in their remembrance. 

But this resolution is the language of sincerity — not 
of perfection. The child of God is humbled in the 
consciousness of daily forgetfulness of the Lord's 
precepts." And this consciousness keeps his eye fixed 
upon Jesus for pardon and acceptance ; while every 
fresh sense of acceptance strengthens his more habitual 

^ Compare Luke iv. 25, 26. - John vi. 63. 

M 3 



EXPOSITION OF PSALM CXIX. 

remembrance. Then as for his natural inability to 
preserve upon his mind an accurate recollection of 
Divine things— let him not estimate the benefit of the 
word by the results in the memory, so much as by 
the impressions upon the heart. The word may have 
darted through the mind, as a flash of lightning that 
strikes and is gone ; and yet the heart may have been 
melted, and the passing flash may have shed a heavenly 
ray upon a dubious path. If the heart retains the 
quickening power, " the precepts are not forgotten,'' 
even though the memory should have failed to preserve 
them. 

But whatever word of conviction, direction, or 
encouragement, may have come to us, let this special 
seal be affixed to it — ' I will never forget thy precepts.' 
It may be of signal use in some hour of temptation. 
The same Spirit that breathed before upon the word, 
may breathe again ; if not with the same present 
sensible power, yet with a seasonable and refreshing 
recollection of past support. 

94. / am thine ; save me ; for I have sought thy 
precepts. 

What a high and honourable character is stamped 
upon the meanest believer ! He is the Saviour's un- 
alienable property 1 and portions—the workman- 
ship " 3 of his hand— the purchase of his blood 4— the 
triumph of his conquering love.^ He is given to him 
by his Father 6— preserved in himself and called." 7 
The evidence of his character is found in " seeking the 
Lord's precepts." It is clearly known " whose we 

1 1 Cor. iii. 23. 2 j^g^^. xxxii. 9. 3 Eph. ii. 10. 

4 Psalm Ixxiv, 2. Acts xx. 28. ] Cor. vi. 19, 20. 
' Isa. liii. 10—12. ^ John vi. 37; x.29; xvii. 6, 11. 7 jude 1. 



VERSE 94. 247 

are/' by observing whom we serve/' i His ser- 
vants ye are to whom ye obey." 2 Know that the 
Lord hath set apart him that is godly for himself." ^ 
The carnal mind is not subject to the law of God, 
neither indeed can be. So then they that are in the 
flesh" can have no natural inclination towards the 
Lord's precepts.4 The influence, therefore of a new 
and spiritual bias is the visible stamp and seal of the 
Lord's interest in us. Many pleas might be sent up 
for mercy; but none so constraining as this—'' I am 
thine ; save me." ' Thou hast saved me ; thou hast 
delivered my soul from death : wilt thou not deliver 
my feet from falling ? " ^ Save me from the love of 
sin, from the daily guilt and power of sin. Save me 
from the temptations and snares that surround me : 
from the treachery of my own foolish heart. Save me 
from all these, and from all besides, which thou seest 
ensnaring to my soul. If I am not thine, whence this 
desire, this endeavour to " seek thy precepts ? " What 
mean my privileged moments of communion with 
thee ? What mean the yet unsatisfied desires after a 
conformity to thine image ? Lord, was it not thine 
own act, thy free and sovereign act, that made me 
thine ? I would humbly plead it. Save me ; because 
thou hast brought thy salvation near to me, and sealed 
me thine. I need mercy to begin with me : mercy 
to accompany me : mercy to abide with me for ever. 

I am thine ; save me,'' ' And what irresistible 
energy does it give to our pleading with God, when 
we remember, that the object of our supplications was 
the sole purpose that brought down the Son of God 
from heaven ! " I came down "—said he,— '' from 
heaven, not to do mine own will, but the will of him 

1 Acts xxvii. 23. 2 Kom. vi. 16. ^ pgalm iv. 3. 

4 Rom. viii. 7, 8. ^ Psalm Ivi. 13. 



248 EXPOSITION OF PSALM CXIX. 

that sent me. And this is the Father's will which hath 
sent me, that of all which he hath given me I should 
lose nothing,'''^ Of this purpose, he was enabled to 
testify at the conclusion of his work—'* Those that 
thou gavest me I have kept, and none of them is lost, 
hut the son of perdition,'^ 2 

Can we then bring our character to this test, that 
we seek his precepts ! Is it the way in which we 
love to walk ? Then let us not desist from our plea 
before God, until our heart listens to the voice of love, 
centering every blessing of creation, redemption, and 
heavenly calling, in the privilege of adoption—'* Thus 
saith the Lord, that created thee, O Jacob, and he 
that formed thee, O Israel : Fear not, for I have re- 
deemed thee : I have called thee by thy name ; thou 
art mine. Thou art my servant : O Israel, thou shalt 
not be forgotten of me. I have blotted out, as a thick 
cloud, thy transgressions ; and as a cloud, thy sins." ^ 
I have regarded this thy plea. I have heard this thy 
prayer—*' I am thine ! save me."^ 

95. The wicked have waited for me to destroy me ; hut 
I will consider tky testimonies. 

Though the believer is safe as the Lord's property^ 
and in the Lord's keeping ; yet the ungodly as the 
instruments of Satan— will not cease to distress him. 
The Psalmist has before alluded to this trial, as 
driving him to his refuge.^ And, indeed, this is the 
constant character of the believer's walk— enduring the 
enmity of the ungodly world, and seeking his refuge 

1 John vi. 38, 39. 2 j^j^^^ ^vii. 12 ; xviii. 9. 

^ Isaiah xHii. 1 ; xliv. 21, 22. 
^ The same plea is urged in prayer, Psalm cxliii. 12 ; Ixxxvi. 2. 
Margin. Compare also verse 125. 

Verses 78, 87, 



VERSE 95. 249 

in the word of God— in that hiding-place of safety to 
which the word directs him. A striking proof of the 
irreconcileable variance between the world and God. 
All that is most contrary to God is encomaged by 
the spirit of the world ; while God's own image in 
his people is persecuted and despised. Yet the word 
of God opens to the believer a sure defence. His 
" soul is among lions ^ but he can testify to the 
astonishment of the world— My God hath sent his 
angel, and hath shut the lions' mouth, that they have 
not hurt me." 2 He hears indeed the roaring of the 
winds and waves ; but he hears also the voice speak- 
ing to his agitated mind—'' Peace, be still." ^ 

The experience of this trial and support beautifully 
illustrates the promise—'' He that believeth shall not 
make haste." ^ He whose hope is firmly fixed on that , 
*' tried corner stone," which God himself hath " laid , 
in Zion as a sure foundation "— " shall not be greatly! 
moved," nay, he shall not be moved" ^ at all, by 
the machinations of " the wicked lying in wait" fbr| 
his destruction. In the hour of approaching difficulty, ' 
instead of perplexing himself with successive ex- 
pedients for his safety f (sought more from human 
contrivance, than from asking counsel at the mouth 
of God), he |' possesses his soul in patience," and 
calmly commits all events to the Lord. Such a man 
" shall iiot be afraid of evil tidings : his heart is fixed, 
trusting in the Lord." ^ ' This trust is grounded on 
the word of God, revealing his power and all-suffi- 
ciency, and withal his goodness, his offer of himself 

1 Psalm Ivii. 4. ^ Daniel vi. 22. 

3 Mark iv. 39. Isaiah xxviii. 16. 

Psalm Ixii. 2, 6. His confidence seems to have increased in the 
recollection of his support—" I shall not be greatly moved — I shall 
not he movedy 

^ Psalm cxii. 7. 



M 5 



250 EXPOSITION OF PSALM CXIX. 

to be the stay of the soul, commanding ns to rest upon 
him. People wait on I know not what persuasions 
and assurances, but I know no other to build faith on, 
but the word of promise, the truth and faithfulness 
of God opened up, his wisdom, and power, and good- 
ness, as the stay of all those that, renouncing all other 
props, will venture on it, and lay all upon him. He 
that believes sets to his seal that God is true ; " and 
so he is sealed for God, his portion and interest 
secured. If you will not believe, surely ye shall 
not be established." ' i 

But it is the considering of the Lord's testi- 
monies," that draws out these blessings of refuge and 
comfort. The habit of the soul must be fixed upon 
them, as tried words, purified seven times in the 
fire." 2 And in this frame of mind the child of God 
is enabled to say, " I will/' under all distresses, all 
circumstances of trial, or even of dismay, consider 
thy testimonies^'' — " I will consider," the faithfulness 
of those blessed declarations — " There shall not an 
hair of your head perish. Touch not mine anointed."^ 
Tor he that toucheth you, toucheth the apple of 
mine eye " and with this armour of defence — this 
stay of support — I shall not be afraid, even should 
I hear the evil tidings," that the wicked have 
waited for me to destroy me." Or even if I should 
be destroyed, I know that thy testimonies cannot fail. 
I know that my rock is perfect — that there is no 
umighteousness in him;"^ and therefore, though 
an host should encamp against me, my heart shall not 
fear ; though war should rise against me, in this will I 
be confident." ^ Whether then I am delivered from 

1 LeighWs Works, iii. 256, 257. 
^ Psalm xii. 6, P. Trans. ^ Luke xxi. 18. Psalm cv. 15. 

^ Zech. ii. 8. ^ Psalm xcii. 15. ^ Ibid, xxvii.3. 



VERSE 96. 



251 



the wicked, and live— I live unto the Lord ; or 
whether I fall into their snare, and " die — I die unto 
the Lord," ^ for "I will consider thy testimonies 
and rest assured, that all thy purposes shall be ac- 
complished concerning me, as thou hast said — " I will 
never leave thee nor forsake thee."^ Thou wilt 
keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on 
thee, because he trusteth in thee." ^ 

96. / have seen an end of all perfection ; but thy 
commandment is exceeding broad, 

A DEEPER insight into the character of the Lord's 
testimonies" is the sure result of " considering'' 
them. The believer marks them to be stamped with 
a perfection, to which no words or works of man can 
put in their claim. Often does the world, with its 
boasted stores of wisdom and enjoyment, extort this 
confession from votaries — I have seen an end of all 
perfection,^'' "In much wisdom is much grief." ^ 
Its sources of happiness are equally unsubstantial. 
After they have feasted on its delicacies, mixed in 
all its indulgences, and like the King of Jerusalem, 
not withheld from their heart any joy," their judg- 
ment pronounces the verdict—'' Behold ! all was 
vanity and vexation of spirit." ^ All that it can 
offer is a bubble— a shadow. And yet such is the 
reluctance of the heart towards God, that the world is 
first tried to the very uttermost, before any desire to 
return homeward is felt or expressed. And even then, 
nothing but the Almighty power of God can bring 
the sinner back. He would rather perish in his 
misery, than return to his rest." ^ 

1 Rom. xiv. 8. - Heb. xiii. 5. ^ Isa. xxvi. 3. 

4 Eccl. i. 18. ^ Ibid. ii. 10, 11. ^ Psalm cxvi. 7. 



252 EXPOSITION OF PSALM CXIX. 

But how striking is the contrast between the empti- 
ness of the world and the fulness of the command- 
ment of God:' Our whole duty to our God, our 
neighbour, and ourselves, is here laid open before us — 
commanding without abatement, and forbidding with- 
out allowance— making no excuse for ignorance, frailty, 
or forge tfulness —reaching — not only to every species 
of crime, but to every thing tending to it. This is 
''perfection:' of which we never see an end." 
Every fresh view opens—not the extent— but the 
immensity of the field ; and compels us at leng^th to 
shut up our inquiries with the adoring acknowledg- 
ment—'* Thy commandment is exceeding broad:' Its 
various parts form one seamless piece; so that no 
particle can be separated without injury to the whole. 
As all the curtains of the tabernacle, connected by 
taches and loops, made but one covering for the ark, 
and the loosening or disjunction of the smallest point 
disannulled the fitness of the whole ; so it belongs to 
the perfection of the commandment of God, that 
'' whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend 
in one point, he is guilty of all.^'i The spirituality 
of its requirements is equally illustrative of its Divine 
'' perfection.'' An angiy look is murder, 2 an un- 
chaste desire is adultery, ^ the ''stumbling-block 
of iniquity ''4 — coveteousness^^ in the heart — is 
idolatr}^ the thought ^ as well as the act, the first 
conception of sin as well as the after commission 
brings in the verdict— Guilty— Death. 

Can the Christian then endure the sight of its 
" exceeding breath ? " — Yes — For he knows who it 
is that hath stood in its place— that hath fulfilled its 



1 James ii. 10, 11. - Matt. v. 21, 22. Comp. 1 John iii. 15. 
3 Matt. V. 27. 4 Ezek. xiv. 7. ^ Ephes. v. 5. 

^ Prov. xxiv. 9. Compare xxiii. 7. 



VERSE 96. 



253 



unalterable requisitions, and borne its awful curse. ^ 
As a covenant, therefore, it has lost its terrors. As a 
rule — he loves it for its extent, and for its purity, — for 
the comprehensiveness of its obligations, and for the 
narrowness of its liberty for indulgence. He would 
not wish to be subject to a less severe scrutiny — to a 
more lenient administration. 

Reader ! If you have learnt the exceeding breadth 
and spirituality of the law, (the first lesson that is 
taught and learnt in the school of Christ) your views 
of yourself and your state before God will be totally 
changed. Before, you were ''thanking God in 
your heart, ''that you were not as other men are.'' 
?fow you will be " smiting upon your breast, saying, 
God be merciful to me a sinner ! " 2 Before perhaps 
you might have thought yourself, " touching the 
righteousness which is of the law, blameless." Now 
you will glory in your new and more enlightened 
choice — " What things were gain to me, those I 
counted loss for Christ." ^ Once you considered 
yourself " alive," when you were really dead. Now 
that " the commandment is come " in its heart-search- 
ing spirituality and conviction to your soul, you 
" die,"^ that you may live. Blessed change from 
the law to the gospel—" from death to life ! " "I 
through the law am dead to the law, that I might 
live unto God." ^ 



1 Gal. iv.4. 5 ; iii. 13. - Luke xviii. 9—13. 

3 Phil. iii. 6, 7. ^ Horn, vii. 9. Gal. ii. 19. 



254 



EXPOSITION OF PSALM CXIX. 



PART XIII. 

97. Oh ! how love I thy law ! it is my meditation all 

the day, 

Mark the man of God giving utterance to his feelings 
of heavenly delight— expressing most by intimating, 
that he cannot adequately express what he desires. 
He seems as if he was unable to restrain his acknow- 
ledgments of Divine influence springing up in his 
heart— OA/ how love I thy law!'' This experi- 
ence is most distinctive of a spiritual character. The 
professor may read, and understand, and even may 
externally obey the law ; but the believer only loves 
it ; and he lives in it, as if he could not live without 
it. To the professor it is a task imposed to satisfy 
conscience. " The veil upon the heart'' 1 darkens all 
his spiritual apprehension, and consequently excludes 
spiritual delight. To the child of God it is food and 
medicine, light and comfort— yea, " life from the 
dead." If it be a law of precept in the word, it is a 
law of liberty " law of love— in his heart. His 
former obedience was the bondage of fear. But how 
diff'erent is the effect of constraing love ! He now 
delights to view it in every lineament. He dwells 
upon every feature with intense enjoyment. Before 
it was confinement — his chain. Now it is his liberty 
—his ornament. The man is not what he was— Old 
things are passed away : behold ! all things are 
become new."^ 

^ 2 Cor. iii. 15. 2 james i. 25. 3 2 Cor. v. 17. 



VERSE 97. 



255 



There always has been good reason to love the 
law:' It has^ ever been the mirror that has reflected 
Christ to his Church. The spiritual eye discerns 
him in every part. ^ Do you— Reader— search for 
him in his law ? Do you love his law,'' because 
it " testifies of him ? ^' Do you pray for his Spirit, 
that his law may guide you to him ? This is the 
evidence, that you have " turned unto the Lord, when 
the veil is taken away," and you ''with open (unveiled) 
face behold in this glass the glory of the Lord." ^ 
But love fastens the soul to the beloved object. 
Oh ! how love I thy law ! it is my meditation all the 
day:'^ When you cannot have it in your hand, it 
will be found, if indeed your soul is in a prosperous 
state, " hid in your heart." There it is kept as your 
most precious treasure— while you live upon it with 
unwearied appetite as your daily bread, and exercise 
yourself in it as the rule of your daily walk. Oh I 
how worthy is it of all the love of the warmest heart ! 
Those who have attained the most extended acquaint- 
ance with it, feel their want of suitable enlargement to 
be a subject of constant and most humiliating regret. 

^ John Y 39. ' Were I to enjoy Hezekiah's grant, and to hav^ 
fifteen vears added to my life, 1 would be much more frequent m 
my applications to the throne of grace. Were I to rene%y my 
studies I ^^'ould take my leave of those accomphshed tritiers— 
the historians, the orators, the poets of antiquity— and devote my 
attention to the Scriptures of truth. I would sit with much greater 
assiduity at mv Divine Master's feet, and desire to know nothmg 
but " Jesus Christ, and him crucified." This wisdom, whose truits 
are peace in hfe, consolation in death, and everlastmg salvation 
after death— this I would trace— this I would seek— this 1 wou.d 
explore throu-h the spacious and delightful fields of the Old and 
New Testament.' Such was the testimony of one who had culti- 
vated the classic fields with no inconsiderable success, and who 
above most men had enriched his soul with the glorious treasures 
of the word of God— whose praise is in all the churches as the 
Author of Theron and Aspasio. 

- 2 Cor. iii. 15—18. ^ Psalm i. 2. 



^^'O EXPOSITION OF PSALM CXIX. 

This habit of love and holy meditation will spread 
Its influence over our whole character. It will fill 
our hearts with heavenly matter for prayer— diffuse a 
sweet savour over our earthly employments— sanctify 
the common bounties of providence i — realize the 
presence of God throughout the day— and command 
prosperity upon our lawful undertakings 2— and en- 
large our usefulness in the Church of God. ^ And 
thus the man of God is formed in his completeness, 
symmetry, and attraction — such as the world is often 
constrained secretly to admire, even where the heart is 
unready to follow. 

Lord ! implant in my heart a supreme love to the 
law. Write it upon my heart— even that new law— 
the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus." 4 May 
I love it so that I may be always meditating upon it, 
and by continual meditation yet more enlarging my 
love and delight in it. So let it prove an ever-springing 
source of heavenly enjoyment and holy conversation ! 

98. Thou, through thy commandments, hast made 7ne 
iviser than mine enemies ; for they are ever with 
me.—gg. I have more understanding than all my 
teachers: for thy testimonies are my 7neditatian, 
— 100. / understand more than the ancients ; 
because I keep thy precepts. 

What a fruitful harvest did David reap from his 
daily meditation on the law of God ! He became 

wiser than his enemies'' in subtilty "^^^^ than all 
his teachers'' in doctrine—'' than the ancients" in 
experience. Yet he is not here boasting of his own 
attainments; but commending the grace of God in 



1 1 Tim. iv. 4, 5. - Psalm i. 3. Compare Jos. i. 7, 8. 

^ ITim.iv. 15. ^ Rom. viii. 2. ^ Prov. i. 1,4. 



VERSES 98—100. 257 
and towards him— Thou through thy commandments, 
hast made me wiser ^ How much more wisdom does 
the persecuted believer draw from the word of God, 
than his persecutors have ever acquired from the learn- 
ing of this world ! Those however who have been 
effectually taught of God need to be daily taught 
of him. They are prone to trust to their own wisdom ; 
and though, while they rest upon their God, and seek 
counsel at his word, they are wise indeed ; yet when 
they turn to their own counsel, they become a by- , 
word and occasion of offence by their own folly. ^Vas 
David " wiser than his enemies or his teachers,'' when 
he dissembled himself to fight against his own people ^ 
—or when he yielded to the indulgence of lust^— 
or when in the pride of his heart he numbered the 
people ? 3 Alas ! how often do even God's children 
befool themselves in the ways of sin ! 

But let us mark the means of attaining this Divine 
wisdom. David gained it— not by habits of extensive 
reading— not by natural intelligence— but by a diligent 
use of the word of God.— In order to avail ourselves 
however of this means — a simple reception of the 
Divine testimony is of absolute importance. We can 
never obtain that assurance of the certainty of our 
faith, which is indispensable to our peace, or resist 
the influence of unenlightened * ^ teachers "—or of the 
long-established worldly maxims of ''the ancients" 
—except by entire submission to the supreme authority 
of Scripture, Many sincere Christians— especially at 
the outset of their course^ — are much hindered — either 
by the scepticism of others, or of their own minds ; 
or from their previous habit of studying the Bible 
in the light of carnal wisdom, or in dependence upon 



^ 1 Sam. xxvii. 



- 2 Sam. xi. 



2 Ibid. xxiv. 



EXPOSITION OF PSALM CXIX. 

human teaching. Such need special prayer for humility 
of mind and simplicity of faith, that under divine 
teaching, they may discern that path to glory, which 
in infinite condescension is made so plain, that the 
way-faring men, though fools, shall not err therein/' i 
In our Christian progTess, the habit of meditation 
in the testimonies after David's example, will prove 
of essential service. For while those who confer 
with flesh and blood " cannot have their counsellors 
always at hand ; we, in seeking our wisdom from the 
word of God, have the best Counsellor ^^ever with 
us," teaching us what to do, and what to expect. 
And what a spring of devotedness will flow from this 
habitual use of the testimonies ! " How carefully 
shall we keep the precepts" when meditation has 
made them familiar to us ! and the Saviour cheers us 
with his presence and his love ! Thou meet est him 
that rejoiceth, and worketh righteousness—those that 
remember thee in thy ways J' 2 

Now let us turn in, and inquire— What is our daily 
use of the word of God ? Is its influence ever present 
— ever practical ? Do we prize it as a welcome guest ? 
Is it our delightful companion and guide ? Oh ! be 
constant in meditation upon this blessed book. Eat 
the words," when you have ''found it; and it will 
be unto you the joy and rejoicing of your heart." ^ 
The name of Jesus, the great subject of the word, 
will be more precious —your love will be inflamed* 
— your perseverance established 5 and your heart 
enlivened in the spirit of praise. ^ Thus bringing 
your mind into close and continual contact with the 
testimonies of God, and pressing out the sweetness 

J Isaiah xxxv. 8. 2 j^i^j^ j^^^^ 5 ^.^^^p^ ^^^^ 21—23. 
3 Jeremiah xv. 16. ^ Psalm xxxix. 3. 

5 Verses 23, 95, 6 pg^im i^iii. 5, 6. 



VERSE 101. 

from the precious volume, it will drop, as from the 
honey-comb, daily comfort and refreshment upon your 
heart.i 



101. / have refrained my feet from every evil way, 
that I might keep thy word. 

David's wisdom was of a practical — not of a mere 
intellectual or speculative character. It taught him 
to keep the Lord's precepts ; " and in order to this 
—to refrain his feet from every evil way." Thus 
will the believer, as he advances in wisdom and 
spiritual understanding,'' anxiously desire to remove 
hindrances out of the way. He would abhor that 
which is evil," that he might cleave to that which 
is good." 2 He would abstain from all appearance 
of evil," 2 lest unconsciously he should be drawn into 
the atmosphere of sin. He would '^hate even the 
garment spotted by the flesh," * as fearing the infec- 
tion of sin worse than death. In the consciousness 
of the danger of self-deception, he intreats the Lord to 

see if there were any wicked way in him." ^ Thus 
he is enabled to maintain an upright walk before 
a heart-searching God, to keep himself from his 
iniquity," ^ and, in dependance upon the gospel pro» 

1 Thus Luther recommends to us ' pause at any verse of Scrip- 
ture we choose, and to shake as it were every bough of it, that, 
if possible, some fruit at least may drop down to us. Should this 
ixiQde' — he remarks — 'appear somewhat difficult at first, and no 
thought suggest itself immediately to the mind capable of affording 
matter for a short ejaculation ; yet persevere, and try another and 
another bough. If your soul really hungers, the Spirit of God will 
not send you away empty. You shall at length find in one, and that 
perhaps a short verse in Scripture, such an abundance of delicious 
fruit, 'that you will gladly seat yourself under its shade and abide 
there, as under a tree laden with fruit.' 

2 Rom. xii. 9. ^ 1 Thess. v. 22. ^ Jude 23. 

5 Psalm cxxxix. 24. ^ Ibid, xviii. 23. 



260 EXPOSITION OF PSALM CXIX. 

mises, and in the strength of gospel grace, to " perfect 
hohness in the fear of God." i 

Some men indeed full of self, and full of the world, 
talk of " keeping the word," when their empty profes- 
sion too clearly proves their awful ignorance and self- 
delusion. For the character and testimony of Scripture 
combine to shew, that if our hearts have not felt the 
power of its holiness, we neither know nor keep it. 
And indeed this is the beautiful peculiarity in the word 
of God ; that, in order to keep it, there must be a 
separation from sin. The two things are incompatible 
with each other. The two services are at variance at 
every point, so that the love of sin must depart, where 
the love of God is ingrafted in the heart. Yet so 
strongly arp we disposed to every evil way, that it 
requires the Almighty power of grace to enable us 
to refram from one or another crooked path. Often 
is the pilgrim (yea, has it not too often happened to 
ourselves ?) stopped and held back in his Christian 
profession— by a temporary ascendancy of the flesh— 
by a little licence given to sin— or by a relaxed cir- 
cumspection of walk. At such seasons the blessed 
privilege of " keeping the word " is lost. We are 
sensible of a declining delight in those spiritual duties, 
which before were our " chiefest joy." And " is there 
not a cause?" Have we not provoked our gracious 
G^od by harbouring his enemy in our bosom— nay 
inore— by pleading for indulgence for it? Has not 
" the Holy Spirit been grieved " by neglect, or by 
some worldly compliance; so that his light has been 
obscured, and his comforting influenced quenched ? 
No consolations, consistent with the love and power 
of sin, can ever come from the Lord. For the holiness 



- 2 Cor. vii. 1. 



VERSE 101. 



261 



of the word of God cannot be either spiritually under- 
stood, or experimentally enjoyed, but in a consistent 
Christian walk. And yet such is the blessedness 
entailed upon a spiritual interest in this book, that the 
very expectation of realizing its promises, and of walk- 
ing in its ways, may operate as a principle of restraint 
from every evil way." 

But there is no bondage in this restraint from sin. 
Oh, no i The believer feels sin to be slavery ; and 
therefore deliverance from it is his perfect freedom.'' 
There is indeed a legal mode of restraint much to 
be deprecated, when the conscience is goaded by sins 
of omission or of wilfulness ; and the man, ignorant 
or imperfectly acquainted with the Gospel way of 
deliverance, hopes to get rid of his burden by a more 
circumspect walk. But not till he casts it at the 
foot of the cross, and learns wholly to look to Jesus 
his deliverer, can he form his resolution upon safe and 
effectual grounds. Let us therefore seek to abide within 
a constant view of Calvary. Sin will live everywhere, 
but under the cross of Jesus. Here it withers and dies. 
Here rises the spring of that holiness, contrition, and 
love, which refreshes and quickens the soul. Here 
then let us live. Here let us die.^ 

Blessed Lord ! Thou knowest that I desire to 
keep thy word.'' Prepare my heart to receive and. 
to retain it. May I so abide in Christ," that I may 
receive the sanctifying help of his Spirit for every 
moment's need I And while I rejoice in him as my 
Saviour, may I become daily more sensible of €very 

1 * Vv^hen I am assaulted by some wicked thought, I then betake 
me to the wounds of Christ. When my flesh casteth me down, by 
the remembrance of my Saviour's wounds, I rise up again. — Am 
I inflamed with lust ? I quench that fire with the meditation oi 
Christ's passion. — Christ died for us. There is nothing so deadly, 
that is not cured by the death of Christ.' — Augustine. 



262 EXPOSITION OF PSALM CXIX. 

deviation from the strait path as an evil way ! And 
may daily grace be given to refrain my feet from'' 
it " that I may keep thy word ! " 

102. / have not departed from thy judgments ; for 
thou hast taught me. 

If I have refrained my feet from'' sin — " if I 
have not departed from God's judgments" — to him be 
all the glory. O my soul ! Art thou not a wonder to 
thyself? So prone to depart from God! how is it, 
that thou art able in any measure to hold on thy 
way ? Because the covenant of the Lord engages thy 
perseverance. — I will put my fear in their hearts, 
that they s^hall not depart from me." i While con- 
scious of my own corrupt bias to depart, let me 
humbly and thankfully own the work of Divine grace 
and teaching. Man's teaching is powerless in advanc- 
ing the soul one step in Christian progress. The 
teaching from above is " the light of life." It gives 
not only the light, but the principle to improve it. 
It not only points the lesson and makes it plain; 
but imparts the disposition to learn, and the grace 
to obey. So that now I see the beauty, the pleasant- 
ness, the peace, and the holiness of " the Lord's 
judgments," and am naturally led to delight, and in- 
sensibly constrained to walk in them. O how much 
more frequent would be our acknowledgment of the 
Work of God, did we keep nearer to the Fountain- 
head of life and light ! 2 How may we trace every 
declension in doctrine and practice— all our continual 
estrangement from the Lord's judgments— to following 
our own wisdom— or depending upon human teaching ! 



^ Jer. xxxii. 40. Comp. 1 John ii. 27. - Psalm xxxvi. 9. 



VERSE 102. 263 
" Trusting in man" is the departing of the heart from 
the Lord.i 

Reader ! What has been your habit and progress 
" in the judgments of GodV' Have you been care- 
ful to avoid bye-paths? Has your walk Been con- 
sistent, steady, advancing, " in the fear of the Lord, 
and in the comfort of the Holy Ghost ?"2 If there 
has been no allowed departure from the ways of God, 
it has been the blessed fruit of " ceasing from your 
own wisdom,'' 3 and resting, in simplicity of faith, 
upon the promise written in the prophets— And 
they shall be all taught of God.'' And how de- 
lightful is the influence of this heavenly teaching 
in drawing your heart with a deeper sense of need 
and comfort to the Saviour! For— as he himself 
speaks— ''every man therefore that hath heard, and 
hath learned of the Father, cometh unto me."^ Re- 
member— it was no superior virtue or discernment, that 
has restrained your departure from God. But—'' Thou 
hast taught me" the way to come to God— the way 
to abide in him— Christ the way— Christ the end. 
And his teaching will abide with you.^ It will win 
you by light and by love, and by a conquering power 
allure and captivate your heart with that delight 
in his judgments, and fear of offending against them, 
that shall prove an effectual safeguard in the hour 
of temptation. Be careful therefore that the teaching 
of the Lord be not lost upon you. Inquire into your 
proficiency in his instructive lessons. And do not 
forget to prize his teaching rod, that loving correction, 
of which David had felt the blessing,^ and which 

1 Jer. xvii. 5. ^ Acts ix. 31. ^ Prov. xxiii. 4. 

■1 Isaiah liv. 13, with John vi. 45. ^1 John ii. 24, 27. 

6 Yerse 67. 



264 EXPOSITION OF PSALM CXIX. 

he so often uses, to keep his children from departing 
from his judgment s.^^ 

Lord ! do thou lead me by the hand, that I may 
make daily progress in thy judgments. Restrain 
my feet fi'om ''perpetual backsliding." Whatever 
of human instruction may be afforded to me — all 
will be ineffectual to keep me " from departing from 
thy judgments," except thou teachest me. Neither 
grace received, nor experience attained, nor engage- 
ments regarded, >vill secure me for one moment without 
continual teaching from thyself. 

103. Hon; sweet are tJiy words unto my taste/ yea, 
sweeter than honey to my mouth. 

How varied were the exercises of David in the 
word of God ! Its majesty commanded his reverence. ^ 
Its sweetness excited his joy. Very natural was his 
expression of delight in its contents 2— a delight how- 
ever exclusively connected with an experimental in- 
terest in its blessings. Xone are in any respect bene- 
litted by an external knowledge of the Gospel. But 
a spiritual taste is a sure evidence of spiritual health — 
when the word of God is to us as it was to David, 
sweeter than honey to the mouth ; " and " esteemed 
more than our necessary food."^ The most accurate 
description of this taste can convey no just idea of the 
reality. The highest commendation cannot make the 
sweetness of honey intelligible to one who has never 
tasted it. Thus nothing but experience can convey a 
just idea of a spiritual taste. " O taste and see that 
the Lord is good; " ^ and, having once tasted of his 

1 Verse 161. 

' Thrice in one short Psalm does he stir up his habit of praise 
of the word and of the God that gave it. See Psalm Ivi. 4, 10. 
3 Job xxiii. 12. -i Psalm xxxiv. 8. 



VERSE 103. 



265 



Divine goodness, all the poor joys, which before were 
sweet to the soul, will be found insipid, distasteful, 
and even bitter. The discoveries of faith in the appre- 
hension of Christ, and the enjoyment of faith in com- 
munion with him — this it is that gives an unutterable, 
heavenly sweetness to the word. Unto them that 
believe, he is precious.'^ ^ His name is as ointment 
poured forth ; " ^ and the savour of the knowledge of 
him^^ ^ brings a reviving to the soul, that nothing 
besides was ever able to impart. Can the awakened 
sinner hear, that God so loved the world, that he 
gave his only- begotten Son ; that whosoever believeth 
in him should not perish, but have everlasting life" 
— and not be ready to say — How siueet are thy 
words unto my taste I yea, sweeter than honey unto 
my w.ou th ? Can the distressed soul listen to the 
invitation to all that labour and are heavy-laden," ^ 
and not feel the sweetness of those breathings 
of love ? Can the believer hear his Saviour's voice 
at the door of his heart, calling him to fresh com- 
munion with himself^ — and not turn to him with 
the expressive acknowledgment of his grateful heart 
— All thy garments smell of m^^Th, and aloes, and 
cassia, out of the ivory palaces, whereby they have 
made thee glad ? " 7 The nearer we keep to Christ — 
the more he is revealed in his fulness and preciousness 
to our souls — the more unction and fragrance shall 
^ve perceive in that word which testifies of him in 
every page. It is however with the spiritual as with 
the natural food. There is often a want of appetite 
to it ; and therefore a want of sweetness and refresh- 
ment from it. An indolent reading of the word with- 

1 1 Peter ii. 7. ^ Can. i. 3. ^2 Cor. ii. 14. 

^Johniii.16. ^ Matt. xi. 28. ^ Rev. iii. 20. 

' Psalm xlv. 8. 

N 



266 EXPOSITION OF PSALM CXIX. 

out faith — without desire — without application — or 
a taste vitiated by contact with the things of sense — 
will discover the reason of it. The full soul loatheth 
the honey-comb ; but to the hungry soul every bitter 
thing is sweet/' ^ 

But how melancholy is the reflection of the multi- 
tudes, that hear, read, understand the word, and yet 
have never tasted its sweetness ! Like Barzillai, they 
have no sense to discern between good and evil." 
Full of the world, or of their own conceits— feeding 
on the delusive enjoyments of creature comforts — 
nourishing some baneful corruption in their bosoms- 
— or cankered with the spirit of formality— they have 
no palate for the things of God — they are ''dead in 
trespasses and sins." But if we be hungering and 
thirsting after the word, hoiv sweet is it to the taste ! " 
We eat and are not satisfied. We drink, and long to 
drink again. '' If so be we have tasted that the Lord 
is gracious, as new-born babes," we shall ''desire the 
sincere milk of the word, that we may grow thereby." ^ 
We shall take heed of any indulgence of the flesh, 
which may hinder this spiritual enjoyment, and cause 
us to "loathe" even "angels' food" as "light 
bread." ^ Instead of resting in our present experience 
of its sweetness, we shall be daily aspiring after higher 
relish for the heavenly blessing.^ And will not this 
experience be a "witness in ourselves" of the Divine 
origin of the word ? For what arguments could ever 
persuade us that honey is bitter, at the moment that 
we are tasting its sweetness ? Or who could convince 
us, that this is the word of man, or the imposture 
of deceit, when its blessed influence has imparted 



1 Prov. xxvii. 7. - See 1 Peter ii. 1, 2. 

2 Ibid. 2, 3. 4 Psalm Ixxviii. 25. Numb. xxi. 5. 

Castce delicice mecs sunt Scripturse tuse.— Augustine. 



VERSE 104. 



267 



peace, holiness, joy, support, and rest, infinitely beyond 
the power of man to bestow ? Finally, let us remark 
this enjoyment, as the spiritual barometer, the pulse 
of the soul — accurately marking our progress or de- 
cline in the Divine life. With our advancement in 
spiritual health, the word will be increasingly " sweet 
to our taste ; ^' while our declension will be marked 
by a corresponding abatement in our desires, love, and 
perception of its delights. 

104. Through thy precepts^ I get understanding ; 
therefore I hate every false way, 

" Spiritual understanding^' is connected with the 
taste of spiritual sweetness. ^ The sweetness of the 
lips " — as the wise man observes — increaseth learning. 
The heart of the wise teacheth his mouth, and addeth 
learning to his lipsJ^ ^ Thus having learned ''the 
principles of the doctrine of Christ," we are encou- 
raged to ''go on to perfection'' — " growing ^?^ ^mce 
and in the knowledge of Christ." ^ For the connexion 
between " grace and knowledge" is clearly manifested. 
Many are the inconsistencies of the young or imper- 
fectly instructed Christian, which — when " through 
the precepts he has got understanding " — he gladly 
forsakes ; and learns to walk more uniformly and 
steadily, and to ''abide in the light,'' And indeed 
a constant and irreconcileable ''hatred of every false 
way " will invariably follow — as contrary to the God 
we love, and which, though strewed with the flowery 
" pleasures of sin," is "hard"^ in its present walk, 
and ruinous in its certain end.-^ The love of the "false 

1 Comp. Prov.ii. 10, 11. - Ibid. xvi. 21, 23. 

3 Heb. vi. 1. 2Pet. iii. 18. ^ Prov. xiii. 15. 

^ Matt. viii. 13. Phil. iii. 19. 

N 2 



268 



EXPOSITION OF PSALM CXIX. 



ways''' of our own heart's choosing proves our know- 
ledge of the Gospel — if there be any knowledge at 
all — to be barely speculative and uninfluential. And 
with regard to the ways of sin — may we not inquire 
of those, whose past wanderings in the ways of sm 
justly give weight and authority to their verdict — 
^ TTTiat is your retrospective view of these ways ? ' 
Unprofitableness. — ' '\^'hat is your present view of 
them ? ' Shame. — What prospect for eternity would 
the continuance in them assure to you ? ' Death.'*' ^ 
Rightly then are they called ''false ways,^^ and of 
those that are found in them it is well said— ''This 
their way is their folly.'' * For what indeed can it be 
but the foolishness of folly, to rest in illusive hopes 
of peace, which can only issue in evils endured and 
infinitely gTeater evils foreboded ? The blessing then of 
spiritual knowledge consists in its sanctifying efficacy. 
'' False icays^^ are not only avoided and forsaken, but 
abhoiTcd ; and every deviation into them from the 
strait path, however pleasing, will be ''resisted" even 
" unto blood.'' ^ 

But let me ask myself — What is my apprehension 
of the way of sin ? Have I detected the ''false ivays'' 
of my own heart ? Little is done in heart religion, 
until my besetting sins are searched out. And let me 
not be satisfied with forbearance from the outward act. 
Sin may be restrained, yet not mortified— nor is it 
enough, that I leave it for the present, but I must 
renounce it for ever. Let me not part with it as with 
a beloved friend, with the hope and purpose of renew- 
ing my familiarity with it at a "more convenient 
season ; ^ but let me shake it from me, as Paul 
shook off the viper into the fire, with determination 

1 Rom. vi. 21. - Psalraxlix. 13. 

3 Heb. sii. 4. Acts xxis'. 25. 



VERSE 104. '-^OU 

and abhorrence. AVhat ! can I wish to hold it .- It 
through the precepts of God I have got understand- 
ing;' can I find it in my heart to turn away from that 
voice which speaks— Oh ! do not this abominable 
thino' that I hate ? - Xo ; rather let me pluck it 
out*' of my heart, and cast it from me." ^ Oh! 
for the high blessing of a tender conscience— such as 
shrinks from the approach, and " abstains from all 
appearance of evil ^ — not venturing to tamper with 
any self-pleasing way ; but "hating'' it as ''false;' 
defiling, destructive ! I have marked the apple of my 
eye— that tenderest particle of our frame — that it is 
not only oflfended by a blow or a wound, but that, 
if so much as an atom of dust find an entrance, it 
would smart until it had wept it out. Xow such may 
my conscience be — sensitive of the slightest touch 
of sin— not only fearful of resisting, rebelling, or 
quenchmo; the Spirit *' — but gTieving for every 
thought of sin, that grieves that blessed Comforter— 
that tender Friend ! To '" hate every false way,'* so 
as to flee from it, is the highest proof of Christian 
courage. For never am I better prepared to '' endure 
hardness as a good soldier of Jesus Christ," ^ than when 
my conscience is thus set against sm. For it is in fact 
to be ready to submit to the gTeatest suri:ering, rather 
than be convicted of unfaithfulness to my God. 

Lord ! turn my eyes, my heart, my feet, my ways, 
more and more to thy blessed self. 

1 Acts xx^-iii. 5. - Jer. xliv. 4. ^ Alatt. v. 29. 

4 1 Thess. V. 22. ^ 2 Tim. ii. 3. 



-V 3 



270 EXPOSITION OF PSALM CXIX. 



PART XIV. 

105, Thy word is a lamp unto my feet^ and a light 
unto my path. 

The nightly journeys of Israel were guided by a 
pillar of fire.i Our passage in a dark and perilous 
way is irradiated by the word of God. A benighted 
traveller needs the " lamp and the lighf^ — not only to 
mark his course, but to direct every successive step. 
Such is man's need of the word of God ! Such is his 
darkness without it — or even with it, while destitute 
of faith and Divine light! Except the " lamp^^ be 
lighted — except the teaching of the Spirit accompany 
the word — all is ''darkness, gross darkness" still. 
Did we more habitually wait to receive, and watch 
to improve, the light of the word, we should not so 
often complain of the perplexity of our path. The 
light reflected from this source would in most instances 
determine our steps under infallible guidance. 

Yet it may sometimes be a matter of difliculty to 
trace the light in which we are walking to this heavenly 
source. A promise may seem to be applied to my 
mind, as I conceive, suitable to my present circum- 
stances. But how may I determine, whether it is 
'' the lamp of the word of God, or some delusive 
light from him, who can at any time for the accom- 
plishment of his own purpose, transform himself into 
an angel of light ? '* Or if a threatening be impressed 
upon my conscience, how can I accurately distinguish 



^ Exodus xiii. 21, 22. 



VERSE 105. 271 
between the voice of " the accuser of the brethren," 
and the warning suggestion of my heavenly Guide ? 
The state of my mind under the circumstances alluded 
to will throw light upon this point. If I am living 
in the indulgence of any known sin, or in the neglect 
of any known duty— if my spirit is careless, or my 
walk unsteady, I cannot help suspecting a consohng 
promise-though presented before my mmd with a 
sensible impression of comfort-from its unsuitableness 
to my case. " The lamp " of God under the circum- 
stances supposed, would rather reflect the light of con- 
viction than of consolation. For, though God as a 
Sovereign may speak comfort when and where he 
pleases, yet we can only expect him to deal with us 
according to the general prescribed rules of his own 
covenant, which to his people in a backsliding state 
threatens chastisement, rather than speaks consolation 
to his backsliding people.^ If, however, in a contrite 
spirit, an encouraging word should pass before me, I 
should have little hesitation in receiving it as the light 
of God's word, because I should be conscious of that 
state of feeling in which the Lord has expressly pro- 
mised to restore and guide his people ^ in the course 
of the inquiry. The terms and character of the pro- 
mise, might also mark its application to myself. 
When He that " dwelleth in the high and holy place," 
engages to dwell " with him also that is of a contrite 
and humble spirit ;"3 in discovering within myself 
any symptoms of gracious tenderness, I cannot mistake 
in considering this word of promise as sent by my kind 
and watchful Father, to be " a lamp unto my feet, and 
a light unto my path." Again, Whenever the light 
of the word leads me to a distinct and experimental 

» Comp. Psalm Ixxxix. 30-32. ^ Comp. Isa. Ivii. 18. 

3 Ibid. Ivii. 15. 



272 EXPOSITION OF PSALM CXIX. 

view of the Saviour in his promises, so that he is near 
and precious to me, and I am enabled to rely on his 
faithfulness and love, it is sufficiently evident, from 
whence alone this light could have come.i Or if I 
find, that the purpose of the promise is to answer any 
proper end— to excite or to encourage to any present 
duty, and that some suitable connection exists between 
the duty and the promise ; I can scarcely doubt but 
the lamp of the Lord is directing my dark and difficult 
path. For example— When the promise was given to 
Joshua-" I will not fail thee nor forsake thee ; " 
It was to him, " a word " " fitly spoken " " in a time 
of need," so that it seemed almost impossible to mis- 
construe it. And when the same word was subsequently 
given in a, more general acceptation to the Church, 
the application was equally clear, as a dissuasive from 
inordinate attachment to the things of time and sense, 
and an encouragement to an entire dependence upon 
the Lord.3 And further, that I may clearly discern 
the light of God upon my path, let me examine the 
influences of the promises of God upon my heart and 
conduct. When the Apostle was supported in a 
moment of extremity with an unconditional promise 
of deliverance ; the effect produced on his mind was 
exhibited in a diligent use of all appointed means of 
safety. 4 When Hezekiab, lying apparently at the 
point of death, received an absolute promise of an 
addition of fifteen years to his life ; as a token at once 
of his obedience to the command, and his faith in the 
promise, he attended to the prescription given for the 
recovery of his health.^; When Ezra, and the Jews 
in his time, received an assurance of Divine protection 
expressed in the most general terms ; upon the warrant 

1 Comp. 2 Cor. i.20. Mos.i. 5. ^ Heb xiii 5 

4 Acts xxvii. 24, 31. Msaiah xxxviii. 5, 21. ' ' 



VERSE 105. -''3 

of this word, " they fasted and besought their God 
for this."i JSTow in these and similar instances the 
practical influence of the word in the way of diligence, 
simplicity, and prayer, evidently proved its Divine 
origin. An assurance of safety proceeding from 
another source, would have been productive of sloth, 
carelessness, and presumption ; and therefore any 
practical illustration of the quickening power of the 
word in an hour of darkness and perplexity, I may 
truly presume to be the Lord's lamp unto my feet, 
and light unto my path,'' " to guide my feet into the 
way of peace.'' 

The same test will apply to the threatenings of the 
word ; and will determine the character and the source 
of the light that dawns upon my path. If I am 
walking humbly with my God" in the exercise of 
waiting faith, and a steady persevering endeavour to 
seek conformity to him, I feel warranted in tracing 
any impression of the threatenings of the word to his 
suo:o'estion, who is ever ready to whisper distrust and 
despondency to the child of God. But in a self- 
confident, self-mdulgent state, I should have as little 
hesitation in marking a word of awakening alarm as 
the light of the word of God. It would be well for 
me at such a time to be exercised with fear ; - not 
as arguing any insecurity in my state, but as lead- 
ing me to " gTeat searchings of heart," to increasing 
watchfulness, humiliation, and prayer. The com- 
mandment is a lamp, and the law is a light; and 
reproofs of instruction are the way of life." ^ O that 
I may be enabled to make use of this lamp, to direct 
every step of my heavenly way ! 

Lord ! save me fi'om ever turning my face away 

^ Ezra viii. 21—23. - Compare 1 Cor, ix. 27. 

2 Proverbs vi. 23. 



274 EXPOSITION OF PSALM CXIX. 

from the path into which thy word would guide me. 
Enable me to improve the light afforded me in the 
constant exercise of faith, prudence, and simplicity. 

106. I have sworn, and I will perform it, that I will 
keep thy righteous judgments. 

As if a simple resolution would prove too weak for 
the service of God, the Psalmist strengthens it with 
an oath. Nay more— as if an oath was hardly suffi- 
cient security for his obedience, he seconds it with a 
lirm resolution—'^ I have sworn, and I will perform 
it,'' There shall be but one will between me and my 
God, and that will shall be his not mine. Some 
timid Christians would think it presumptuous to bind 
themselves under a solemn oath ; feeling their liability 
every moment to break their engagements. And some 
perhaps may have burdened their consciences with 
unadvised restrictions, or have made fruitless attempts 
in their own strength, i Still, however, when it is a 

^ It is related of Mr. Pearce, by his excellent biographer, that 
at the period of the first awakening of his mind—' having read 
Doddridge's Rise and Progress of Religion, he determined formally 
to dedicate himself to the Lord in the manner recommended in the 
seventeenth chapter of that work. The form of a covenant there 
drawn up he also adopted as his own ; and, that he might bind 
himself in the most solemn and affecting manner, signed it with his 
blood. But afterwards, failing in his engagements, he was plunged 
into great distress, and almost into despair. On a review of his 
covenant, he seems to have accused himself of a pharisaical reliance 
upon the strength of his resolutions, and therefore taking the paper 
to the top of his father's house, he tore it into small pieces, and 
threw it from him to be scattered by the wind. He did not how- 
ever consider his obligation to be the Lord's as thereby nullified ; 
but feeling more suspicion of himself, he depended solely upori the 
blood of the cross.'— Fuller's Life of Pearce, pp. 3, 4. This instance 
must be considered not as an example of the entangling nature of 
covenant engagements ; but as an illustration, by way of contrast, 
of the enlightened deliberation and simplicity, with which they 
should ever be undertaken. See some admirable remarks on this 
subject from Mr. Newton's pen.— Life of Grimshawe, pp. 16—18. 



VERSE 106» 27o 
free-will offering, it is a delightful service, well-pleasing 
to God. Such it was in the days of Asa, when all 
Judah rejoiced at the oath, for they had sworn with all 
their heart, and sought him ivith their whole desire, and 
he was found of them,'' ' Vows were both binding 
and acceptable 2 under the Levitical dispensation. Nor 
are they less so— i?i their spirit at least— under the 
perfect law of liberty." A holy promise, originating 
in serious consideration and proceeding to a strong and 
fixed purpose of binding ourselves as vvith an oath to 
the service of God, so far from being repugnant to the 
true spirit of Christian liberty, appears to have been 
enjoined by God himself as a part of his service nay 
—his people are described as animating each other to 
it, as to a most delightful privilege, ^ We do not 
bind ourselves in our own strength as an act of self- 
righteousness— but as a renewed act of faith and daily 
dedication in dependence on the engagements of his 
own covenant. That some unwary souls have been 
ensnared by these engagements however much to be 
lamented, cannot be considered as a legitimate argu- 
ment against their importance. If Jephthah was en- 
tangled in a rash and heedless vow, ^ David appears 
never to have enjoyed more of the ''perfect freedom 
of the" service of his God, than when binding his 
soul with a bond" equally unalterable, but more 
advised, in its obligation, ^ And have we with the 
vows of God upon us," ^—baptismal vows— perhaps 
also confirmation or sacramental vows— found our souls 
brought into bondage by these solemn engagements ? 
Have we not felt it possible thus to secure our duty, 

i 2 Chron. XV. 12—15. 
2 Numb. XXX. 1,2. Deut. xxiii. 21—23. 
3 Isaiah xix. 2 1 , Comp. also Isa. xHv. 5, and Scott on this verse. 
4 Jeremiah 1. 4, 5. ^ Judges si. 35. 

6 Psalm cxvi. 12—14. ^ Ibid. Ivi. 12. 



276 EXPOSITION OF PSAXM CXIX. 

without being ensnared by it ? Have not holy seasons 
of covenanting with God often restrained our feet 
from devious paths, and quickened our souls in his 
service ? Indeed dependance upon the blood of Christ 
to pardon innumerable failures in duty, and upon his 
Spirit to strengthen us, for a more devoted fulfilment 
of our obligations— has often realized in these trans- 
actions a peace and joy, that leads us to look back upon 
such times as some of the happiest times of our lives. 
Not but that every recollection will call for the prayer 
Enter not into judgment with thy servant, O 
Lord : " i but if in this respect we sin, it is still our 
privilege to remember, and without presumption to 
believe, that we have an advocate with the Father, 
Jesus Christ the Righteous ; and he is the propitiation 
for our sins.'' 2 And as for encouragement to expect 
necessary grace, there is One, who hath said— My 
grace is sufficient for thee " 3_and that One has given 
no less a proof of his interest in us, than in dying for 
us. Confidently therefore, may we trust, that he 
" will perfect that which concerneth us ; that he will 
work all our works in us to will and to do of 
his good pleasure.'' ^ Perhaps however a messenger 
of Satan" may buffet us"— ^ Thou hast broken 
thy bond— now it will be worse with thee than before.' 
But did not Jesus die for sins of infirmity and even 
of presumption ? Does every failing of the wife annul 
the marriage covenant ? So neither does every infir- 
mity or backsliding dissolve our covenant with God. 
Was our faithfulness the basis of this covenant ? 
Rather does not the blood of this covenant " 7 make 
constant provision for our foreseen unfaithfulness ? 



1 Psalm cxliii. 2. 2 j John ii. 1, 2. ^2 Cor. xii. 9. 
^ Psalm cxxxviii. 8. s isaiah .?xvi. 12. 

6 Phil, ii. 13. 7 Heb. xiii. 20. ' 



VERSE 106. 



277 



And does not our gracious God overrule even our 
backslidings for the eventual establishment of a more 
simple reliance upon himself, and a more circumspect 
and tender walk before him ? 

There are, however, many cases of distressing tempt- 
ation to tenderly scrupulous consciences : when, for 
instance, a Christian has been drawn away from a 
set season of extraordinary devotion, by somp unfore- 
seen duty, or some unlooked-for opportunity of glori- 
fying God. But as the engagement was or ought to 
have been formed with an implied limitation of its use, 
(that it should not interfere with the glory of God, or 
with paramount Christian duty) it cannot be justly 
considered to be broken by any such providential in- 
terference. At the same time let it not be a light 
matter to remove a free-will offering from the altar 
of our God. Let godly care be exercised to discover 
any subtle workings of the indulgence of the flesh in 
the service of God. Let double diligence redeem the 
lost privilege of more immediate and solemn self- 
dedication. We must beware of legal bondage. But 
let us not mistake the liberty of the flesh for the liberty 
of the Gospel. Let us be simple and ready for self- 
denying service, and the Lord our God will not fail 
to vouchsafe " some token for good." 

*' Come'* then, my fellow Christian, ''and let us 
join ourselves to the Lord in a perpetual covenant, 
never to be forgotten" i by God, never to be forsaken 
by us. Let each of us be ready to renew our sur- 
render— '' O Lord, truly I am thy servant," I make 
an off*er of myself to be thy servant — ''Thou hast 
loosed my bonds ; " ^ and now I come to thee. Oh ! 
bind me to thyself with fresh bonds of love, that may 



^ Jeremiah 1. 5. 



2 Psalm cxvi. 16. 



278 EXPOSITION OF PSALM CXIX. 

never be loosed. Glad am I, that I am any thing— 
though the meanest of all ; that I have any thing, 
poor and vile as it is, capable of being employed in 
thy service. I yield myself up to thee, asking that I 
may be a vessel meet for the Master's use ; I 
yield myself to thee with my full bent of heart and 
will entirely and for ever. 

107. I am afflicted very much; quicken me, O Lord, 
according unto thy word. 

It would seem, that the course of devoted obedience, 
to which this holy man of God had just pledged him- 
self, was connected with a state of deep and protracted 
affliction ; and the sense of utter helplessness and con- 
fidence in the Divine promise, which he is here led to 
express, may serve to convince us, that his covenanting 
with God was not an act of reliance in his own 
strength ; but undertaken in humility, in the fear of 
the Lord, and in the evangelical simplicity of faith. 
At the same time also his determined resolution to 
''keep'' God's word of obedience, gave boldness to 
his pleading, that God would perform his word of 
promise — I am afflicted very much: quicken me, 
Lord, according to thy word,'' And how high the 
privilege, that we are permitted to pour our troubles 
into the ear of One, who is able perfectly to enter into, 
and to sympathize with us in them; ''who knoweth 
our frame," 2 who hath himself laid the affliction upon 
us,3 yea, more than all, who " in all our affliction is " 
himself "afflicted," 4 and "suffered being tempted, 
that he might be able to succour them that are 
tempted."^ There are none — not even those most 

1 2 Tim. ii.21. 2 pg^jj^ ^j^j^ 3 i^id. xxxix. 9. 

. Isaiah Ixiii. 9. ^Heb. ii. 18. 



VERSE 107. 279 

dear to us— to whom we can unbosom ourselves as we 
do to our heavenly Friend-— our wants— griefs— burdens 
of every kind— we are encouraged to roll them all upon 
him. Those who cultivate the blessing of communion 
with their Lord, will know the full comfort of this 
relief in the hour of affliction. And what compassion 
is due to those, who are indeed afflicted very much, 
whose souls, as they draw nigh unto death,'' and 
know no refuge, are ready to burst with their own 
sorrows— *nhe sorrows of the world,"— unmitigated- 
unrelieved — working death." ^ 

There is a need be " ^ for the afflictions of the Lord's 
people. The stones of the spiritual temple cannot be 
polished or fitted to their place without the strokes 
of the hammer. The gold cannot be purified without 
the furnace. Yet the alleviations of trials divest them 
of their penal character, and lead us to regard them 
as among the choicest and most encouraging instances 
of our Father's combined wisdom, faithfulness, and 
love. Need we say, that they are infinitely inadequate 
to our deserts, that they are not without hope, that 
they are not eternal, and that in the end we shall find, 
that greater comfort was probably vouchsafed in the 
endurance of them, than we even ventured to antici- 
pate from their removal ? Need we say— how richly 
they ought to be prized, as conforming us to the image 
of our suffering Lord ! and how assuredly ^nhe end 
of the Lord " will be ; that the Lord is very pitiful 
and of tender mercy." ^ Indeed how many of his dear 
children may bear the surname of Ephraim— For 
God hath caused me to be fruitful in the land of my 
affiiction,^^ 

But great affliction is often as hard to bear as great 

1 2 Cor. vii. 10. ^ I Peter i. 6, 7. 

3 James v. 11. Gen. xli. 52. 



280 EXPOSITION OF PSALM CXIX. 

prosperity. While sorely suffering under the rod, we 
have most important need of the quickenino- grace of 
God to keep us aUke from stout-heartedness and de- 
jection. Are we in danger of despising the chasten- 
ing of the I^oyA V'—"^ Quicken me, O Lor^f ' — that 
I may be preserved in a humble, wakeful, listenins; 
posture— that I may not by an unprepared frame lose 
the blessing of the sanctified cross.' Are we readv to 
faint, when we are rebuked of him ? i ^- Quicken 
me, Lord'' that I sink not under the blow of thy 
hand.'' Thus will this Divine influence save us from 
bringing dishonour upon our God by the workings 
of our own spirit. We shall receive chastisement of 
our Father's discipline with humility without de- 
spondency,' and with reverence without distrust — 
hearkening to the voice that speaks, while we ti'emble 
under the rod that strikes — yet so minolino- fear with 
confidence, that we may at the same moment adore 
the hand which we feel, and rest in the mercy that is 
promised. And how consoling in the depths of our 
affliction is the recollection, that in either case of need 
we are privileged to plead the word of God as our 
sure warrant for prayer and expectation — Quicken 
me, Lord, according to thy icord'' And which 
of the exercised children of God has ever found one 
jot or one tittle of the word to fail?" " Patience 
working experience, and experience hope, and hope 
making not ashamed in the sense of the love of 
God shed abroad upon the heart by the Holy Ghost 
which is given unto us '' — all this abundantly illus- 
trates the answer to the prayer for quickenino- oTace 
for the encouragement and support of waitmo;, dis- 
couraged souls— Thou, which hast shewed me great 



^ Heb. xii. 5. 



VERSE 108. 281 

and sore troubles, shalt quicken me again, and shalt 
brin- me up again from the depths of the earth. 
Thou shalt increase my greatness, and comfort me on 
every side." ^ 

108. Accept, I beseech thee, the free-will offerings of 
my mouth, Lord, and teach me thy judgments. 

As the first fruits of his entire self-devotion of 
himself to the Lord ^-as the only service he could 
render in his affliction, and, as an ackno^yledgment 
of the supplv of quickening gTace received in answer 
to prayer ^—behold this faithful servant of God pre- 
sentmo;^ <^ the free-ivill offerings of his mouth'' for 
acceptance. Such he knew to be an acceptable 
service. Por the sacrifices of the Old Testament were 
not only typical of the One sacrifice for sin, but 
illustrative of the spiritual worship of the people of 
God ; and in this view frequent allusion is made to 
them' in both parts of the sacred volume.-^ To those 
who are interested in the atonement of Jesus, there 
needeth no more sacrifice for sin.'^^ That which is 
now required of us, and in which as the Lord's people 
we delight, is to take with us words, and turn to 
him, and say unto him— Take away all iniquity, and 
receive us graciously ; so will we render the calves 
of our lips,'^^ Xo offering but a " free-ivill offering " 
is accepted. Such were the offerings of service under 
the law.6 And such must they be under the gospel. 

God loveth a cheerful giver."" Yet neither can 
this office be accepted, until the offerer himself has 

1 Rom. v. 3—5, with Psalm Ixxi. 20, 21. 

- Verse 106. ^ Verse 107. 

4 Compare Psalm li. 16, 17. Mai. iii. 3, with Pliil. iv. 18. 
Heb. xiii. 15, 16. ' Hos. xiv. 2. 

6 Numb.xxix. 39. Deut. xvi. 10. " 2 Cor. ix. /. 



252 EXPOSITION OF PSALM CXIX. 

found acceptance with his God. ''The Lord had 
respect" first to the person of ''Aber'— then ''to 
his offering/' i Yet if our persons are covered with 
the robe of acceptance — if "the offering up of the 
body of Jesus Christ once for all 2 j^^s " sanctified 
us before God, however defiled our services may be, 
however mixed with infirmity, and in every way most 
unworthy ; even a God of ineffable holiness " beholds 
no iniquity "3 in them. Xo offering is so pure as to 
obtain acceptance in any other way. Xo offering 
so sinful as to fail of acceptance in this way. Most 
abundant indeed and satisfactory, is the provision 
made in heaven for the continual and everlasting 
acceptance of our polluted and distracted services— 
" Anothei" angel came and stood at the altar, havmg 
a golden censer ; and there was given unto him much 
incense, that he should offer it, with the prayers of all 
saints, upon the golden altar which was before the 
throne. And the smoke of the incense, which came 
with the prayers of the saints, ascended up before God 
out of the angePs hand.'' ^ ^yith such a High Priest 
and Intercessor, not only is un worthiness dismissed, 
but boldness and assurance of faith is encouraoed.-^ 

But, as we remarked, it was " a free-will offering '' 
that was here presented— the overflowings of a heart 
filled with the love of God. Xo constraint was neces- 
sary. Prayer was delightful. He was not forced 
upon his knees. Let me unite with him— Let me 
seek fellowship with him in again presenting myself 
before my God. ' Lord ! I ought to be thine, and 
none other's. I desire to tell the world, that I am 
captivated by thy love, and consecrated to thy service. 



^ Gen. iv. 4, 5. 
2 Numb, xxiii. 21. 

-5 Heb. iv. 14— 



- Heb. X. 10. 
Rev. viii. 3^ 4. 
16 ; X. 21, 22. 



VERSES 109, 110. '^^^ 
O let me be enabled to - rejoice ; for that I offered 
ivillingly:^ Great gTace is it, that he is wiUing to 
accept my service. For what have I to offer, but 
what is already - his own ? - ^ But let me not forget 
to supplicate for further instruction-- Teach vie thy 
judgments^ that I may be directed to present a purer 
offering; that by more distinct and accurate know- 
ledge of thy ways my love may be enlarged, and my 
obedience more entire, until I - stand perfect and 
complete in all the will of God.'' - 

109. My soul is continually in my hand ; yet do I yiot 
forget thy /aic— 110. The idcked have laid a 
snare for me ; yet I erred not from thy precepts. 

This subject might offer some profitable medita- 
tion for those, whose health must frequently remind 
them of approaching danger, or whose familiarity with 
scenes of war and bloodshed may give peculiar em- 
phasis to the phrase (not indeed of infi^equent use 
in the word of God^)— soul is continually in 
my hand:' From the open violence ^ and the secret 
machinations 5 of his bitter enemy, David, in the early 
part of his public life was in continual apprehension. 
Hunted down - as a partridge in the mountains,'' ^ 
and often scarcely escaping the - snare which the 
wicked laid for him " 7— at one time he could not but 
acknowledge—- There is but a step between me and 
death ; " ^—at another time he was tempted in an 
hour of unbelief to say—- I shall now perish one day 

11 Chron. xxix. 9, U, 17. ^ Col. iv. 12. ^ 

3 Comp. Judges xii. 3. 1 Sara. xix. 5 ; xxviii. 21. Jobxm. 14. 

*i 1 Sam, xviii. 10, 11 ; xix. 9, 10. 
5 Ibid, xviii. 17 ; xix. li— 17. ^ Ibid. xxvi. 20. 

7 The men of Keilah, Ibid, xxiii. 11, 12. The Ziphites, Ibid. 19 ; 
xxvi. 1. ' Ibid. XX. 3. 



284 EXPOSITION OF PSALM CXIX. 

by the hand of Saul/'i Subsequently, also, when 
the hand of his own son appeared to be aimed at his 
throne and his life/2 this language was aptly descrip- 
tive of his state—^^ My soul is continuallij in mxj 
hand:' Yet so undaunted was his resolution, that no 
peril could shake his adherence to the ways of God.^ 

What was the life of Jesus upon earth ? Through 
the enmity of foes— various— opposite yet combined ^ 
his soul was continually in his hand.'' Yet how 
wonderful was his calmness and serenity of mind when 
surrounded by ^Mions in power," dogs" in cruelty, 
wolves in malice ! ^ A measure of this spirit belongs 
to all his disciples, so far as they have the mind that 
was in their Master. For it is not natural courage, 
but the spirit of power, as the gift of God 6— which 
thus enables the believer in the remembrance of the 
precepts— to withstand m the evil day— and having 
done all— to stand." 7 

Let us again mark this confidence illustrated in 
the recorded trials of the servant of God. What was 
the frame of the Apostle's mind, when ^^the Holy 
Ghost witnessed to him in every city, that bonds and 
imprisonment awaited him ? " Xone of these things^' 
— saith he— move me. I am ready not to be bound 
only, but also to die at Jerusalem, for the name of the 
Lord Jesus." 8 He could look ^^tribulation, or per- 
securion, or peril, or sword," in the face ; and while 
he "carried Ms soul continually in his hajid''— in 
true Christian heroism, in the most exalted triumph 
of faith, he could say in the name of himself and his 
companions in tribulation—^^ Xay, in all these things 

I 1 Sam. xxvii. 1. 23 Sam. xv. 13,14; xvii. 1—3. 

3 Verse 87- 4 Luke xxiii. 12. 

» Psalm xxii. 16, 20, 21, with Isaiah liii. 7. ^ 2 Tim. i. 7 

' Ephes. vi. 13. s ^^ts xx. 23, 24 ; xxi. 13. 



VERSES 109, 110. 285 
we are more than conquerors." Nothing could make 
him flinch. Nothing could turn him back. Nothmg 
could ^Ting the lore ;of the service of his God out 
of his heart. His principle was found invincible in 
the hour of trial— not however as a native energy of 
his heart, but—" through him that loved him." ' 3Iight 
not he with strict propriety have said— or did he not 
speak and live the spirit of this Christian confidence— 
" Yet do I not forget thy law?" Daniel's history, 
again, will furnish an instance of the utter impotency 
of the secret devices of the enemy to produce apostacy 
in the children of God. When " the wicked," after 
many an ineffectual attempt to "find occasion or 
fault," were driven to seek for it in " the law of his 
God ; " 2 and when iu this unsuspected path they 
" laid a snare for him," this noble confessor of the 
faith continued to " kneel upon his knees three times 
a day, and prayed, and gave thanks before his God, 
as he did aforetime." ^ The den of lions was far less 
fearful in his eves than one devious step from the strait 
and narrow path of God.^ Sin was dreaded as worse 
than a thousand deaths. He surely then could have 
said—" Yet I erred not from thy precepts." And 
how striking must it have been to David, under cir- 
cumstances of imminent peril, to have seen the "coun- 
sel of Ahithophel "—regarded as oracular, when 
employed in the cause of God-now, when directed 
against the Church, " turned to foolishness ! " = But 
this instance was only "one of a thousand," when 
the ever watchful Head and Guardian of his Church, 
" lest any hurt it, keeps it night and day." « Thus in 

1 Rom.vm.37. \ Daniel vi 5. _ _ 

3 Ibid 6-10. * Comp.Lukexu.4, 0. 

5 Compare 2 Sam. xvi. 23, with sv. 31; xvu. 14. 
6 Isaiah xsvii. 3. 



^Hb EXPOSITION OF PSALM CXIX. 

overruling the devices of the enemy for the establish- 
ment of his people's dependence upon himself, " he 
maketh the wrath of man to praise him/' ^ and 
" taketh the wise in his own craftiness.'' 2 

But the day of difficulty is a '^perilous time" in 
the church. Many shall be purified, and made 
white, and tried." ^ Have we been able to sustain 
the shock in a steady adherence to the law and precepts 
of God ? 4 This is indeed the time, when genuine faith 
will be found of inestimable value. It was in such a 
tim.e, that David, in an especial degree, experienced 
the blessing of having chosen the Lord for his God. 
Once and again— when clouds began to gather black- 
ness, and surrounding circumstances to the eye of sense 
engendered despondency— faith held out the cheering 
prospect of All-sufficient support; and David en- 
couraged himself in the Lord his God." ^ And is not 
David's God ^' our God, the health of our coun- 
tenance," 6 the Guide of our path,T the God of our 
salvation? "8 Oh! let us not rest, till his language is 
the expression of our own confidence; '^What time I 
am afraid, I will trust in thee." 9 

It is this daily confidence of faith, that can alone 
prepare us for the hour of special need, that is ap- 
proaching to us all. Those who have never realized 
the nearness of eternity, can have but a faint idea of 
the needful support in the hour, when ^Vflesh and 
heart fail," 10 to keep the soul in simple dependence 
upon '^he Rock of Ages." " Watch therefore; for 
ye know not" ^ how soon you may be ready to say — 
My soul is in my hand'' quivering on the eve of 

1 Psalm Ixxvi. 10. 2 v. 13, with 1 Cor. iii. 19. 

^ Dan.xii. 10, 4 Verses 51, 69. Rev. ii. 10. 

5 1 Sam. XXX. 6. 6 pg^ini xlii. 11. 7 ibid, xiviii. 14. 

8 Ibid. Ixviii. 20. 9 Ibid. Ivi. 3. 10 Ibid. Ixxiii. 26. 

11 Mark xiii. 35. 



VERSE 111. 

departure to the Judge. - Let your loins be girded 
about, and your lights burning; and ye yourselves 
like unto men that wait for their Lord, when he wdl 
return from the wedding; that when he cometh and 
knocketh, they may open unto him immediately. 
^' Blessed are those servants, whom the Lord, when he 
cometh, shall find watching; verily I say unto you, 
that he shall gird himself, and make them to sit down 
to meat, and will come forth and serve them." i 



111. Thy testimonies have I taken as an heritage for 
ever; for they are the rejoicing of my heart, 

' Precious Bible ! what a treasure ! ' David had 
felt its value, inasmuch as the choice of it had been 
the secret of his perseverance in the midst of trial. 
All who have a part and portion in Christ have a 
portion in the word which testifies of him. This forms 
the believer's claim and delight in " the testimonies:' 
He is indeed utterly unable to calculate their price. 
The Saviour— /iis Saviour— is revealed in them. And 
such exact suitableness does he find in them to his own 
case— such wise direction in the precepts— such whole- 
some discipline in the reproofs— such Divine comfort in 
the promises— that, as they pass before him, he cannot 
but say They are the rejoicing of my heart.'' But 
their chief interest in his eyes is connected with the 
recollection, that they are his portion— his heritage." 
And this indeed may account for the affecting indif- 
ference, with which the world barter away these trea- 
sures, as Esau did his birthright,- for something as 
worthless as a mess of pottage— that they have no 
present interest in them. Justly, however, are they 

1 Luke xii. 35—37. ^ Qen. xxv. 29—34. Heb.xii. 16. 



288 EXPOSITION OF PSALM CXIX. 

called the believer's heritage,'' They are his cove- 
nant property, stamped with the seal of ''the ever- 
lasting covenant."' And not only does he look at the 
word of God as the exhibition and tender of the mercy 
of the Gospel — but he marks every promise sprinkled 
with the blood of Christ, as the seal of the blessings 
contained in it, and the pledge of their performance in 
the exercise of faith. 

Xeed we then entreat you, believer, to value this 
your heritage''— to exhibit to the world, that the 
promises are not an empty sound— that they impart a 
Divine reality of support and enjo^Tnent— and that 
an interest in them habitually reahzed to the soul is 
a blessed, a heavenly portion? Should your heart 
however at any time be captivated by the transient 
prospect before your eyes, should you be led to 
imagine some substantial value in this world's trea- 
sures — you will have forgotten the peculiar pre- 
eminence of your heritage— its enduring character— 

All flesh is as gTass, and all the glory of man as the 
flower of gTass"— withering and falling away; "but 
the word of the Lord '— and therefore your " heritage 
in zY' — ''endureth for ever.*' i And what are the 
gaudy follies— the glittering emptiness of this passing 
scene, in comparison of the prospects, or even of the 
present sources of enjoyment, which, your "herita2:e " 
holds before your eyes? Will you forsake a soul- 
satisfying and eternal portion, to cast in your lot with 
men of this world, which have their portion in 
this life," 2 and who, "having received their conso- 
lation," 3 ^ill soon have " spent their all," and must 
" begin to be in " infinite, eternal " want ? " ^ Such 
as these— having no interest in this heavenly heritage, 

' 1 Peter i. 24, 25. Psalm xvii. 14. 

3 Luke vi. 24. 4 



VERSE 112. 



289 



can have no pleasure in surveying it ; and if conscience 
imposes upon them the drudgery of casting their care- 
less eye across the page, what wonder, if they should 
find in it nothing to enliven their hopes, or to attract 
their hearts ! What communion can worldly hearts 
hold with this heavenly treasure ? What spiritual 
light, as the source of heavenly comfort, can penetrate 
this dark recess ? As well might the inhabitant of the 
subterraneous cavern expect the cheerful light of the 
sun; as the man, whose eyes and heart are in the 
centre of the earth, enjoy the spiritual perception of an 
interest in the heritage of the people of God. If, 
however, the darkness and difficulties of the word are 
pleaded in excuse for ignorance ; let it be confessed 
by those indolent triflers, how small a portion of that 
perseverance and devotedness of heart, which has been 
employed in gathering together the perishing stores 
of this world, has been given to search into this hidden 
mine of unsearchable riches ! 

Oh ! my soul ! if I can lay claim to this blessed 
heritage,'^ I would not envy the miser his gold — I 
would rather adore that giace, which has made me 
to differ from him ; and made me far happier and 
far richer in my heritage, than he can ever be in his. 
But let me be seeking daily to enrich myself from this 
imperishable store ; so that, poor as I am in myself, 
and seeming to have nothing,'' I may find myself 
in reality to be ''possessing all things.''^ Let the 
recollection of the rich heritage of light, comfort, 
peace, and strength, furnished in the word, be my 
abundant joy ; and bind my heart to a closer adherence 
to its obligations, and to a more habitual apprehension 
of its privileges. 



1 2 Cor. 10.' 
O 



290 EXPOSITION OF PSALM CXIX. 



112. I have inclined mine heart to perform thy statutes 
alway^ even unto the end. 

We cannot wonder at this resolution. When the 
Psalmist had " taken the testimonies of God as an 
heritage for ever,'' and found them to be the re- 
joicing of his heart,'' it seems natural, that he should 

inclitie his heart " to perseverance in the enjoyment 
of his portion. And yet to incline the heart to the 
Lord's statutes" is as much the work of God as to 
create a world; and as soon could *Uhe Ethiopian 
change his skin, or the leopard his spots/^ as we could 
*'do good, who are accustomed to do evil."i And 
David was very far from meaning, that he had by any 
act of his^ own power, been able to turn the channel of 
his aifections out of their natural course. Often had he 
made it the subject of prayer ; 2 and, as prayer sets 
every principle of the soul in action, thus in depen- 
dence upon the Holy Spirit, working in him, and set- 
ing him to work, he " inclined his heart to the statutes 
of God." Weak indeed are our purposes, and fading 
our resolutions, unsupported by Divine grace; yet 
strength even to mount upon eagles' wings, to run 
without weariness, and to walk without fainting " ^ — 
to conflict with difficulties without desponding, will 
always be received in the exercise of waiting upon 
the Lord." Conscious that ''without Christ we can 
do nothing "4_^^ but through Christ all things," 5 
let the strength already imparted be exercised, in 
dependence upon the continued supply from above ; 
and thus with willingness, freedom, and delight, turn, 
ing to the Lord, closing with him, and following him- 
we shall "incline our hearts" with the full purpose 

1 Jer. xiii. 23. 2 verses 36, 37. ^ isa. xl. 31. 

^ John XY. 5. 5 Phil, iy, 



VERSE 112. 



291 



to perform his statutes alway, even unto the endJ^ 
This is God's way of putting quickening life and 
delightful motion into a soul that was ' ' dead in tres- 
passes and sins ; " when by an inexpressible sweetness 
he allures it, and at the same moment by an invincible 
power draws it to himself. Every step indeed to the 
end will continue to be a conflict with indwelling sin, 
in the form of remaining enmity, sloth, or unbelief. 
But how encouraging it is to trace every tender prayer, 
every contrite groan ^ every working of spiritual desire, 
to the assisting, upholding influence of the free Spirit 
of God ! 1 The continual drawing of the Spirit will 
give the spring to perseverance in the ways of God. 
The same hand that gave the new bias to direct the 
soul in a heaven- ward motion, will be put forth from 
time to time to quicken that motion— to " incline the 
heart even unto the end.'' And this view will give a 
bright ray of comfort and support to that hardest of all 
words in Christian experience — Persevere — always 
— even unto the end.'''' ' I can hardly hold on' — the 
believer might say — ' from one step to another. How 
can I then dare to hope, that I shall hold on a con- 
stant course — a daily con^iQi—" unto the endV' 
But was it not Almighty power, that supported the 
first step in your course ? And is not the same 
Divine help pledged to every successive step of diffi- 
culty ? Doubt not then that ^' He is faithful that 
hath promised : " ^ dare to be confident of this very 
thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you, 
will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ." ^ And 
i|i this confidence go on to " work out your salvation 
with fear and trembling; for it is God which worketh 
in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure." * 

^ See Rom. viii. 26. 2 Heb.x.23. 

^ Phil. i. 6. 4 Ibid.ii. 12, 13. 

O 2 



292 



EXPOSITION OF PSALM CXIX, 



PART XV. 

113. / hate vain thoughts : but thy law do I love. 

Vain thoughts^'' are the natural produce of the 
unrenewed heart, and of the yet unrenewed part of the 
believer's heart. Who that is sensible of the plague 
of his own heart/' and of the spirituality of the Chris- 
tian walk with God, does not constantly complain 
of their baneful influence ? How does the child of 
Ood long, that his every thought may be brought 
into captivity to the obedience of Christ ! " i But he 

sees another law in his members, warring against 
the law of his mind," so that when he ''would do 
good, evil is present with him/' ^ When he would 
" attend upon the Lord without distraction""^ — when 
he longs to be able to say — " My heart is fixed, my 
heart is fixed " ^ — he finds his affections wandering, as 
*'the eyes of the fool, in the ends of the earth, as 
if there was no object of Divine attraction to his soul. 
We do not hear the worldling, or indeed the Christian 
in his worldly employments, complaining of this bur- 
den. He can bring to deep, important, and anxious 
concerns of this world all that intensity and fixedness 
of attention, which the emergency may demand. In- 
deed the wily adversary would rather assist than hinder 
this concentration of mind, as diverting the soul from 
the immensely momentous and interesting subjects 
of eternity. But never do " the sons of God come 
to present themselves before the Lord," except " Satan 

1 2 Cor. X. 5. 2 i^Qjn. vii. 21, 23. ^ i Cor. vii. 35. 

^ Psalm Iviii. 7. ° Prov. xvii. 24, 



VERSE 113. 



29:3 



comes also among them." ^ " Vain thoughts^' are 
some of his ceaseless hindrances to our spiritual com- 
munion with God. We are probably often not 
sufficiently aware of the subtilty, and therefore the 
peculiar danger, of this temptation. We should 
instinctively start from an enticement to some open 
transgression. The incursion of defiling or blasphe- 
mous thoughts would be such a burden to us, that 
we should " have no rest in our spirit," while they 
remain undisturbed within us. But perhaps neither 
of these temptations are so formidable as the crowd 
of thoughts of every kind, incessantly running to and 
fro in the mind— not actually evil in themselves, yet 
the uidulgence of which as effectually restrains the 
soul from intercourse with God, as the most hateful 
injections. These are " the foxes, the little foxes, 
that spoil the tender grapes." ^ Sometimes the 
thoughts'' may be even spiritual in their nature, and 
yet vain " in their tendency ; as being unsuitable to 
the frame of the present moment, and calculated, and 
indeed intended by the great enemy, to divert the 
mind from some positive duty. Who has not felt a 
serious thought upon an unseasonable subject, and 
at an unseasonable time, to be in its effects and con- 
sequences a " vain thought "—the secret working of 
the false " angel of light," attempting to divide the 
attention between two things, that neither of them 
may be wholly done, done to any purpose, done at 
all?** If at any time ''iniquity has been regarded 

1 Job i. 6. - Can. ii. 15, ^ 2 Cor. xi. 14. 

^ Greenham (one of the most valuable of the Puritan writers 
upon experimental subjects) used to bring his distractions of 
mind to this test — If they brought any past sin to mind for his 
humiliation, or any comfort to excite his thankfulness, or any 
instruction suitable to the present moment — he took them to be 
of God, But if they drew off his mind from present duty to rove 
after other objects, he suspected their source, and girded himself 

O 3 



294 EXPOSITION OF PSALM CXIX. 

in the heart "—if the world in any of its thousand 
forms has regained a temporary ascendancy within 
—or if the imaginations of a lusting heart are not 
constantly held in as with bit and bridle," 
these " vain thoughts,'' ever ready to force their en- 
trance, will at such seasons get an advantage of us." 
Restless in their workings, they keep no sabbaths ; 
and can only be successfully met by a watchful and 
unceasing warfare. 

It is indeed often diiBcult in the midst of continued 
trial from this source to maintain a clear sense of adop- 
tion, or to assure our hearts before God." But the 
inquiry for our own hearts, as a distinctive mark of 
Christian sincerity, is— Do we cordially hate " them, 
as exceeding sinful in the sight of God,i hurtful to 
our own souls, 2 and contrary to our new nature ? s 
If we cannot altogether prevent their entrance, or 
eject them from their settlement, are we careful not 
to invite them, not to entertain them, not to suffer 
them to lodge tcithin '' ^ us? This hatred and 
revolting from their influence is a satisfactory proof, 
that they are not so much the natural sugoestion of 
the heart, as the injections of the enemy of our peace. 
They are at least so directly opposed to our better 

to prayer for increasing steadiness of application to the matter in 
hand. See his works. Folio, p. 23.— Being asked to account for 
distractions m holy meditations, he said— It was either want of 
preparation and sanctifying the heart by praver before we set 
upon so holy an exercise, and therefore a rebuke from the Lord 
for our ' presumption in being bold to work upon holy matters in 
our own strength '—or else a dependence upon a general purpose 
of thinking good or restraining evil, without fastening our minds 
upon some particular object, but rather ' ranging up and down,' 
leaving some part of our mind and meditation "void for other 
matters, without wholly and seriously setting on a thing pro- 
pounded. When any complained to him of blasphemous thoughts, 
he would say—' Do not fear them, but abhor them.' 

\ P^ov. xxiv. 9. 2 Can. ii. 15, and Scott in loco, 

3 Rom. vii. 22. 4 Compare Jer. iv. 14. 



VERSE 113. 295 

will and dominant bias, that we may say—'' If I do 
that I would not, it is no more I that do it, but sin 
that dwelleth in me.'' i As far then as they come 
from within, our affliction and conflict with them 
prove that they dwell there— not as welcome guests, 
OT as the family of the house— but as thieves and 
robbers." The indulgence of them constitutes our 
sin. Their indwelling may be considered only as our 
temptation ; supplying indeed continual matter for 
watchfulness, humiliation, and resistance ; yet, as far 
as they are abhorred and resisted, leaving no stain 
of actual g-uilt upon the conscience, and rather to be 
considered as infirmities than as iniquities. As we 
attain however an increasing sense of the nature of sin, 
and the extent of duty, we shall more clearly mark 
their deeper aggTavations and more persevering oppo- 
sition ; yet, while we gToan under their defiling, 
distracting influence in our best services, and in our 
most favoured moments of approach to God ; we may 
still commit ourselves with assured confidence to him, 
who '' spareth us as a man spareth his own son that 
serveth him," ^ and who will not fail to gather up the 
broken parts of our prayers, and condescend an answer 
of gracious acceptance. 

Thouo-h however we are secured from condemna- 
tion on the account of our vain " and waudering 
thoughts," it becomes a matter of much interest to 
inquire into the best means, by which they may be 
kept imder and brought into subjection. If the seat 
of this evil disease that cleaveth to us" be in the 
heart, there the remedy must be applied. Until the 
corrupt fountain be cleansed, it must ever send forth 
bitter waters. " ^ The heart unwashed from its 

1 Rom. vii. 20. ° Mai. iii. 17. 

3 Compare 2 Kings ii. 19—22. 



296 EXPOSITION OF PSALM CXIX. 

wickedness/" will ever be the inexhaustible receptacle 
of '^vain thoughts:'^ Let it then be daily washed 
m the cleansing fountain of Calvary. Let it be 
diligently - kept/' ^ ^nd carefully tilled, so that it 
may be a ^' good treasure bringing forth good thinos.''3 
Let there be the continued exercise of that watch- 
fulness '' -which is unto prayer/^ 4 combined with an 
unflinching adherence to the path of plain and obvious 
duty. Let the temptation to desist awhile from ser- 
vices so polluted, that they appear rather to mock 
God than to worship him, be met on the onset with 
the most determined opposition. Such a suggestion, 
if received, would indeed give the enemy mosTimpor- 
tant advantage, which he would not neglect to improve 
on every occasion of our approach to God, in tumino- 
us back from time to time by successive incursions 
of - vain thoughts "' into our perplexed and yieldino- 
mmds. If we cannot proceed as we could wish, let us 
proceed as we can. If a connected train of thought or 
expression fails us, let us only change— not surrender— 
our posture of resistance, substituting sighs, desires, 
tears and gToanings for words, and casting ourselves 
upon our God in the simple confidence of faith— - Lord, 
all my desire is before thee, and my groaning is not 
hid from thee. Thou tellest my wanderings: put 
thou my tears into thy bottle : are they not in thy 
book ? " 5 It is far better to wander in duty than 
from It. For if any duty be neglected on account 
of the defilement that is mingled with it, for the same 
reason the neglect of every other duty must follow, 
and, as the final consequence, the worship of God 
would be abolished from the earth. 

Much of our successful warfare will however depend 

1 Comp. Jer. iv. 14. ^ p^.^^.^ 93^ 3 ^vj^tt. xii. 35. 
Ibid. XXVI. 41. 5 Psalm xxxYiii. 9 ; Ivi. 8. 



VERSE 113, *297 

upon an accurate and well -digested acquaintance with 
our own hearts. Much also belongs to a discovery 
of the bias of the mind in our unoccupied moments — 
of the peculiar seasons and circumstances that give 
most power to temptation, that a double watch might 
be set against those doors, by which the enemy has 
been accustomed to find his most convenient and 
unobstructed entrance. Least of all should we forget 
the effectual means suggested by David's experience 
—the excitement of our hearts to the love of the law 
of God. ' He that loves a holy law,' remarks an ex- 
cellent old writer — ' cannot but hate a vain thought.' ^ 
If the law be the transcript of the image of God, 
when the thoughts are affectionately drawn out towards 
him, it must have a natural tendency to fix the image 
of the beloved friend upon the mind, and by a sweet 
constrainmg influence to fasten down the thoughts to 
Divine contemplation. Are we then ever winged with 
an elevating love to the Saviour ? And shall not we 
find our hearts starting out from their worldly em- 
plovments with frequent glances and flights upwards 
towards the objects of our desire ? And vrill not this 
habitual intercourse and communion of love gradually 
mould the soul into a fixed frame of delight— exciting 
our hatred, and strengthening our resistance of every 
earthly affection ? Thus, as the powers of the renewed 
man are called forth in a love" for the holy law 
of God," spiritual wickedness" will be abhorred, 
conflicted and overcome. 

Yet these defilements will remain, to die with the 
last breathings of the old man; which though cru- 
cified indeed, and expiring, will struggle with fearful 
strpno-th and unabated enmity to the end. And let 

1 Steele's Antidote against Distractions. 
O 5 



298 EXPOSITION OF PSAKVI CXIX. 

them remain, as humbling mementos of our unclean 
nature, shapen in iniquity and conceived in sin " i— 
and as enlivening our anticipations of that blessed 
place, where shall in no wise enter any thing that 
defileth/' 2_where '' vain thoughts;' and whatever 
beside might separate between us and our God '' 
will be unknown for ever. And let them not cease to 
operate; as endearing to our souls the free justifi- 
cation of the Gospel ; as leading us daily and hourly 
to repair to " the fountain opened for sin and for un- 
cleanness ; ^ and enhancing in our view that heavenly 
intercession, which provides for the perfect cleansing 
and acceptance of services even such as ours. 

Blessed contemplation ! Jesus prays not for us as 
we do for ourselves. His intercession is without dis- 
traction—without interruption. If we are then so dead 
that we cannot, and so guilty that we dare not, pray, 
and so wandering under the influence of "vain 
thoughts;' that our prayers appear to be scattered to 
the winds, rather than to ascend to the God of heaven— 
if on these accounts combined, we " are so troubled that 
we cannot speak,''^ yet always is there One to speak 
for us, of whom it was testified for our encouragement 
—that there came a voice from heaven, saying— This 
is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.'^ 5 
^S 'lih such hopes, motives, and encouragements, let 
us continue - instant in ^x^jev;' ^ until tee pray, and 
that we may pray. Let us supplicate with restless 
importunity the Lord, that the Omnipotent power 
of his love would take hold of these hearts, which 
every moment sin and Satan seem ready to seize. At 
the same time let us remember, that while we are 
conscious of our hatred of every inten'uption to his 

\ Psa|mli.5._ 2 Rev.xxi.27. ^ 3 Zech.xiii. 1. 

Psalm Ixxvii. 4. ^ ^y^^tt. iii. 17. 6 Ro^,_ ^^j^ 



VERSE 114. 

service, and of the simplicity of our affection to his 
holy law, we may at all times maintain a confidence 
before him, that will issue in perfect peace and 
established consolation. 



114. Thou art my hiding-place, and my shield; I 
hope in thy word. 

Think of the Psalmist's distractions in the service 
of his God from the unremitting vigilance of the 
enemy pursuing him into his secret retirement, and 
defiling his every attempt to serve or enjoy his God. 
Can we wonder then to see him fleeing to his hiding- 
place, where he could " keep himself, and that wicked 
one toucheth him not ? ^ But where is the believer's 
hiding-place? A man shall be as a hiding-place 
from the wind, and a covert from the tempest." - A 
man ! A wondrous man indeed !— whose name shall 
be called the Mighty God ; " ^ for " in him dwelleth 
all the fulness of the Godhead bodily."^ Yes- 
Jesus exposed himself to the fury of the wind and 
tempest, that he might provide a hiding-place and 
a covert" for us. The broken law pursued with its 
relentless curse— ' This sinner ought to die'— But 
" thou art my hiding-place and my shield,'' who hast 
" redeemed me from the curse of the law, being made 
a curse for me." 5 ^ The fiery darts" pour in on 
every side; but the recollection of past security in 
" my hiding-place and beneath " my shield/' makes 
me ready with my song of acknowledgment— Thou 
hast been a strength to the poor, a strength to the 
needy in his distress, a refuge from the storm, a shadow 
from the heat, when the blast of the terrible one is as 

1 1 John V. 18. - Isaiah xxxii. 2. ^ Ibid. ix. 6. 

■i Col. ii. 9. ^ Gal. iii. 10, 13. 



300 EXPOSITION OF PSALM CXIX. 

a Storm against the wall." i From the malice or se- 
ductions of the world, while abiding in this our hiding- 
place, we have nothing to fear. The voice of the 
Saviour still speaks encouragement and support- 
"Beof good cheer; I have overcome the world.'" 2 
To the accusations of Satan or of conscience, our 
challenge is ready-" Who shall lay any thing to the 
charge of God s elect ? It is God that justifieth : 
Who IS he that condemneth ? It is Christ that died." s 
-From the fear of death-" the sting of death "-we 
still find our hope secure, and a song of thanksgivino- 
put mto our mouth-" O death! where is thy stin-? 
O grave ! where is thy victory ? Thanks be to God 
which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesul 
Christ. 4 , How is it that " the smoking flax," which 
the malice of Satan strives to extinguish, is not 
quenched "_or " the bruised reed," which seems 
beyond the hope of restoration, is not "broken," but 
because Jesus is our security-because hidden sprino-s 
of life are perpetually flowing from him-because be 
is our " hiding-place ? " 

The world must often be surprised at the constancy 
of the believer amidst all their varied efi^orts to shake 
his stedfastness. They know not " the secret of the 
Lord, which IS with them that fear him."5_A hidino-- 
place implies secrecy.-The believer's life is a hidden 
lifefi-hidden beyond the comprehension of the world 
and the power of the enemy. How safe then is the 
Christian in the midst of surrounding ruin ! and how 
mvmcible the strength by which he is guarded ! If 
we can look up to the Lord and say-" Thou art 
my hiding-place and my shield," we may live in 

1 Cor. jisr. bj, 07. , Psalm xxv. 14. 6 Col. Ui. 3. 



VERSE 115. 301 

the heart of the enemy's country; and " our place 
of defence shall be the munition of rocks.'' ^ 

But are we acquainted with this hiding-place ? 
How have we discovered it ? Are we found in it, 
and careful to abide in it ? " Them that are without, 
God judgeth." There is but one hiding-place from 
the wind and tempest. All besides, that seems to 
promise security, is a refuge of lies which the 
hail shall sweep away ; and a hiding-place which the 
waters shall overflow." ^ Surely that blessed word, 
that has discovered the hiding-place, is a firm warrant 
for the Christian's hope. And therefore every sinner 
enclosed in the covert of love will be ready to declare 

I hope in thy word J ^ 

115. Depart from me, ye evil-doers: for I will keep 
the commandments of my God. 

Safe and quiet in his hiding-place, David depre- 
cates all attempts to disturb his peace. The society 
therefore of the ungodly is intolerable to him, and 
he cannot forbear frowning them from his presence- — 

Depart from me ye evil-doers." He had found 
them to be opposed to his best interests ; and he 
feared their influence in shaking his determination 
of obedience to his God. Indeed, when have the 
Lord's people failed to experience such society to be 
a prevailing hindrance alike to the enjoyment and to 
the service of God ? " Can two walk together, except 
they are agreed ? " ^ And can we be " agreed" with 
God, so as to walk in fellowship with him, except we 
be at variance with the principles, the standard, and 
conduct of a world that is " enmity against him?"^ 

1 Isaiah xxxiii. 16. ^ Ibid, xxviii. 16, 17. 

3 Amos iii. 3. ^ Comp. Matt. vi. 24. James iv. 4. 



302 EXPOSITION OF PSALM CXIX. 

Not more needful was the exhortation to the first 
Christians than to ourselves— Save yourselves from 
this untoward generation." i True fellowship with 
God implies therefore a resolute course of separation 
^ from an ungodly world. Secure in the " hiding- 
place, and covered with the " shield" of his covenant 
God, the believer has no need to fear their rebuke ; 
but he may meet their malice, and resist their entice- 
ments, with the undaunted front of a good soldier 
of Jesus Christ." 2 j^r^t indeed that the profession 
of the gospel was ever intended to be marked with 
moroseness of behaviour, or any thing approaching to 
an ascetic seclusion of conduct. We are expressly 
enjoined to courtesy and kindness; ^ to a wise and 
considerate walk towards them that are without, ^ as 
" adorning the doctrine of God our Saviour," 5 and 
having a powerful tendency in some instances even 
superior to the word itself, 6 to " win souls" to Christ. 
But when they would tempt us to a devious or 
backsliding step, from the ways of God— when our 
connexion with them entices us to a single act of 
conformity to their standard, dishonourable to God, 
and inconsistent with our engagements to his service- 
then it becomes us to take a bold and unflinching 
stand— Depart from me, ye evil-doers ; for I ivill 
keep the commandments of my God,'' 

The spirit of this resolution gives no countenance 
to the self- delusive notion of maintaining an intimate 
connexion with professed evil-doers " for the kind 
purpose of recommending our religion to their ac- 
ceptance—a scheme which requires a rare degree of 
caution and simplicity to attempt without entangling 
the conscience ; and which, for the most part at least, 

1 Acts ii. 40. 2 Tim. ii. 3. ^ I Peter iii. 8 

* Col. iv. 5. 5 Titus ii. 10. 6 Comp. 1 Peter iii. 1. 



VERSE 115. 303 

it is to be feared, is intended as a specious covering for 
the indulgence of a worldly spirit. If the world are 
to be met, and their society invited, for the accom- 
plishment of this benevolent intention, let it be upon 
the principle of the Lord's command to his prophet — 
" Let them return unto thee; but return not thou to 
them.^'' The amiable desire to please our neigh- 
bour" is limited to the single purpose and end, that it 
should be for his good to edification.'' " And when- 
ever this end and restriction has been overlooked, 
it is sufficiently evident that self-gratification has 
been the moving principle ; and that the distinctive 
mark of the Christian character — bearing the cross, 
and confessing the name of our Divine Master — has 
been obscured. 

Sometimes however, when in the struggle of con- 
science, an apprehension of danger is not altogether 
forgotten, and the question is asked with some 
trembling of spirit— fio2^ far may I conform to the 
world, without endangering the loss of my religion ? " 
But, not to speak of the insincerity and self-deception, 
from which such a question originates, it would be 
better answered by substituting another in its place — 
" How far may I be separate from the world, and yet 
be destitute of the vital principle ? Scrutinize, in 
every advancing step toward the world, the workings 
of your own heart. Suspect its reasonings. Be ready 
to listen to the first awakened conviction of conscience. 
Though it be only a whisper, or a hint, it may be 
generally regarded as the indication of the Divine 
will. And as it concerns this particular point of 
difficulty, let it be remembered that the experiment 
of conformity to the world, often as it has been tried, 

iJer. XV. 19. 2 Qomp. Rom. xv. 2. 



O04: EXPOSITION OF PSALM CXIX. 

has never been found to answer the desired end. 
Whatever may be the effect of this compromise in 
recommending ourselves— no progress has been made 
in recommending our Master to the world ; since bis 
name — whether from watchfulness or cowardice on 
our part, or from the overpowering flow of the world 
on the other side— has probably in such society 
scarcely passed over our lips with any refreshment or 
power of attraction. Indeed so far from commending 
our religion by this accommodation, we have been 
successful in ingratiating ourselves in their favour, 
only so far as we have been content to restrain any 
prominent introduction of it to their notice ; while at 
the same time, our yielding conformity to their taste, 
and habitsy and conversation, has virtually sanctioned 
their erroneous and defective standard of conduct, and 
tended to deceive them with the self-complacent con- 
viction, that it approaches as near to the scriptural 
elevation, as is absolutely required. The final result, 
therefore, of this attempt to conciliate the gospel to 
those who have no heart to it," is— that our own 
consciences have been ensnared, while they retain all 
their principles unaltered. 

It must surely be obvious, that such a course is 
plainly opposed to the revealed declarations of Scrip- 
ture, and can be viewed strictly in no other light, 
than as bearing the decisive character of unfaithfulness 
to our Great Master. We might ask also, whether 
our love to the Lord can be in fervent exercise, while 
we love them that hate him ? i— whether our hatred 
of sin can be active and powerful, while we can find 
pleasure in the society of those, whose life, without 
God in the world, " 2 none other than an habitual 



^ 2 Chron. xix. 2. 



2 Eph. ii. 12. 



VERSE 115. 305 

wilful course of rebellion against him ? i —whether 
we can have any deep and experimental sense of our 
own weakness, when thus venturing into temptation ? 

whether by unnecessary contact with the world, 

we can expect to go upon hot coals," and our feet 
not be burned ? " ^ — or, in fact, whether we are not for- 
getting the dictates of common prudence, in forsaking 
the path of safety for a slippery path, more accordant 
to our own inclinations ? 

But, supposing the path of duty not to be deter- 
mined with infallible certainty by the light of Scrip- 
ture, let this line of conduct be subjected to the 
impartial scrutiny of our own hearts, and of the 
effects, whether neutral or positively detrimental, 
which have resulted from it to ourselves, or to the 
church. Has not this fellowship with evil-doers'' 
been felt to be an hindrance to us in keejnng the 
commandments of our God ? " Or, if it has not 
always ended in open conformity to their maxims, or 
is not conceived, as we have apprehended, to give a 
sanction to their principles, yet has no deadening 
unfavourable influence been felt by ourselves ? Has 
the spirit of prayer sustained no injury in this atmos- 
phere ? Have we never been conscious of the danger 
of imbibing their taste, the spirit of their conversation 
and general conduct ; which, without fixing any blot 
upon our external profession, must insensibly estrange 
the best aff*ections of the heart from God? And 
have we never considered the injury of this worldly 
association to the gospel in weakening, by an apparent 
want of decision on the Lord's side," ^ the sacred 
cause which we are pledged to support ; and obscuring 



1 Who are the wicked, but those that forget God? Psalm ix. 
17 ; X. 4. ' Prov. vi. 28. 

' 3 Comp. Exod. xxxii. 26. Judges v. 23. Matt. xii. 30. 



306 EXPOSITION OF PSALM CXIX. 

the Scriptural character of the people of God as a 
distinct and separate people ? i As far as Providence 
marks our path, we go safely in the spirit of humility, 
watchfulness, and prayer— as far as a connexion with 
" evil doers " is found to be a cross, it is not likely 
to prove a snare ; but if we can manifest an union 
of spirit with them, to whom David says, with holy 
determination—^^ Depart from me ''—and to whom 

David's Lord will one day say — " Depart 2 jg 

there not a want of fellowship between our spirit and 
his, and an essential unfitness for communion with 
the society of heaven ? The children of this world 
can have no more real communion with the children 
of light, than darkness has with liaht.s As great is 
the difference between the Christian and the world, 
as between heaven and hell—as between the sounds 
— ^^Come ye blessed," and— Depart ye cursed/' ^ 
The difference, which at that solemn day will be 
made for eternity, must then be visibly made now. 
They must depart from us, or we from God. We 
cannot walk with them both. ' Defilement ' — as 
Mr. Cecil remarks — ' is inseparable from the world.' ^ 
We cannot hold communion with God in the indul- 
gence of worldly society ; and therefore, separation 
from the world, or separation fi^om God, is the 
alternative. Which way— which company— is most 
congenial to our taste ? May we have grace to listen 
to our Father's voice of love— Wherefore come 
out from among them, and be ye separate, saith 
the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing : and I 
will receive you, and will be a Father to you, and 

^ Comp. Numb, xxiii. 9. John xvii. 16. 
Matt. sxv. 41. 3 2 Cor. vi. 14. -i Matt. xxv. 34, 41. 
5 Cecil's Remains. 



VERSE 116. 807 
ye shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord 
Almighty/' ^ 

116. Uphold me according unto thy icord, that I may 
live ; and let me not be ashamed of my hope. 

Lest the Psalmist should seem to have been self- 
contident in his rejection of the society of the ungodly, 
and determination to adhere to his God, we find him 
here, as we have remarked on former occasions,^ 
mindful of his own weakness, and committing himself 
to the upholding grace of God. Indeed the highest 
Arch-anoel before the throne stands only as he is 
upheld by the Lord, and may unite with the weakest 
child in the Lord's family in the acknowledgment— 
By the gTace of God I am what I am." ^ Much 
more, therefore, must I, pressed as I am on every 
side with daily conflict and temptation, and conscious 
of my own weakness and liability to fall, approach 
the throne of grace as a suppliant for grace to help 
in time of need.^' ^ My plea is the word of promise— 
''according to thy ivord''—'' As thy days, so shall 
thy streno'th be." ^ Pear thou not '' — is the language 
of mv upholding God-^^Por I am with thee; be 
not dismayed, for I am thy God ; I will strengthen 
thee ; yea, I will help thee ; yea I will uphold thee 
with the right hand of my righteousness.'* ^ Blessed 
be the 2:oodness that made the promise, and that 
ouides the hand of my faith, as it were, to fasten 

1 2 Cor. vi. 17, 18. 
- Verses 8, 31. The same frame is marked— Psalm xxii. 4, 5. 
3 1 Cor. XV. 10. Com.pare 2 Pet. ii. 4. 

Man's wisdom is to seek 
His strength in God alone ; 
And e'en an angel would be weak, 

^Vho trusted^ in his own. Cowper. 
Heb. iv. 16. ' Deut. xxxiii. 25. ^ Isa. xli. 10. 



308 EXPOSITION OF PSALM CXIX. 

upon it ! And why do I need the promise ? why do 
I plead it; but - that I may live '^-that 1 may know 
that "liie,'' which is found and enjoyed in the 
favour'' of God ?i Nothing seems worth a serious 
thought beside— nothing else deserves the name of life, 
but the service and enjoyment of God. And therefore 
quickening grace— new life— life more abundantly" 
— let it be the burden of every prayer— the cry of 
every moment. Thus upheld by the Lord's grace, 
and living in the comfort of his presence, I hope to 
feel more and more of the support of my gospel hope. 
Though I have just before expressed a confident hope 
in God's word, though I have been enabled to " make 
my boast in the Lord," as " my hiding-place, and my 
shield," 3 yet a sense of continual helplessness leads 
me earnestly to pray— Let me not be ashamed of my 
hopeJ^ 

Yes— Jesus is the sinner's hope — " the hope set be- 
fore " his people, to which they flee for the refuge " 
of their souls. And well may our " hope " in him 
be called " an anchor of the soul, sure and sted- 
fast."4 Therefore though the distressed Church uses 
this very name — '' The Hope of Israel'' 5— in her 
complaint— as if she feared being made " ashamed 
of her hope ; "—yet she learns— and every member 
learns— to say in the confidence of faith—'' / know 

whom I have believed''^ And it must be so. For 

is not the " stone that is laid in Zion for a founda- 
tion " a " tried stone ? " Has it not been tried in 
ten thousand instances— tried by thousands and mil- 
lions of sinners— nay, more, tried by God himself, 
and found to be "a sure foundation ?" 7 Yet still, 

1 Psalm XXX. 5. 2 j^j^^ ^ ^0. s ygj-gg 

4 Heb. vi. 18, 19. ^ j^j.^ ^iv. 8. 6 2 Tim. i. 12. 

" Isaiah xxviii. 16. 



VERSE 117 



309 



that I may " hold fast the beginning of my confi- 
dence," and " the rejoicing of my hope, firm unto the 
end "1 I must persevere in prayer—" Uphold me ac- 
cording unto thy «;ord. "-David, when left to feel 
his own weakness, was " ashamed of his hope 
<' I said in my haste, I am cut off from before thine 
eyes." ^ At another time, when upheld by the Lord 
in a season of accumulated trial, it is recorded of him, 
" that he encouraged himself in the Lord his God." ^ 
Thus I see " wherein my great strength lieth," and 
how impotent I am when left to myself. And oh ! 
how delightful is the exercise of faith in gouig to 
the Strong for strength. The issue of my spiritual 
conflicts is certain. He who is the author will ever 
be the upholder of the "hidden life" in his people. 
It is a part of his own life, and therefore can never 
perish. The tempter himself will flee, when he marks 
the poor, feeble, fainting soul "upheld according to 
the word" of his Gqd, and placed in safety beyond 
the reach of his malice.* Not however that, as I 
once supposed, my weakness will ever be made strong ; 
but that I shall daily grow more sensible of it, and 
be able to stay myself more simply upon infinite 
everlasting strength. 

1 17. Hold thou me up, and I shall be safe ; and I will 
have respect unto thy statutes continually. 

Such is my sense of need and peril, that my only 
refuo-e lies in " continuing instant in prayer." ^ I must 
therefore send up one cry after another into my 
Father's ear for the support of his upholding grace. 

1 Heb. iii. 6, 14. ; ^'^IfJ'f 

i 1 Sam. XXX. 6. ' " See 1 Peter i. 5. 

^ Rom. xii. 12, 



310 EXPOSITION OF PSALM CXIX. 

For not only the consciousness of my weakness, but 
the danger of the slippery path before me, reminds 
me, that the safety of every moment depends upon 
the upholdmg power of my faithful God. The ways 
of temptation are so many and imperceptible-the 
influence of it so appalling-the entrance into it so 
deceitful, so specious, so insensible— my own weak- 
ness and unwatchfulness so unspeakable-that I can 
do nothing but go on my way, praying at every 
step—" Hold thou me up, and I shall be safe." Often 
indeed can I remember-when "my feet were almost 
gone, my steps had well nigh slipped ; "i that, when 
1 have said, " my foot slippeth," I have been enabled 
to record-" Thy mercy, O Lord, held me up." 2 
How beautiful is the description of this experience 
m the picture given of the Church of old-" Who 
IS this that Cometh up from the wilderness, leaning 
upon her Beloved? " 3 This state of dependence ap- 
pears to have been familiar to the Psalmist, and aptly 
delineates his affectionate, though conflicting, confi- 
dence m his God-" My soul followeth hard after 
thee : thy right hand upholdeth me." * The recol- 
lection of the care of his God, from the earliest 
moments of his life, supplied encouragement for his 
present faith, and matter for unceasing praise—" By 
thee have I been holden up from the womb; thou 
art he that took me out of my mother's bowels • 
my praise shall be continually of thee."5 We cannot 
wonder, then, that this confidence should sustain his 
soul in the contemplation of the remaining steps 
ot his pilgrimage and his prospects for eternity- 
" Nevertheless "-saith he-" I am continually with 

arfn^-l"-^- Mbid.xciv.i8. 

. ^ Psalm Mi. 8. 

° Ibid. Ixxi. 6. 



VERSE 117. 311 

thee : thou hast holden me by my right hand. Thou 
Shalt guide me with thy counsel, and afterwards 
receive me to glory." i And indeed the more lively 
my spiritual apprehensions are, the more conscious 
I shall be, that the Lord is, by the operations of 
his grace as well as of his providence, '^compassing 
my path and my lying down; <^ lest any hurt 
me, keeping me night and day.'' ^ If it be inquired 
—how the Lord " holds up*' his people in this slip- 
pery path, the answer is— Of the fulness of Jesus 
they all receive ^ continual supplies of grace to their 
souls; so that ''the life which they now live in the 
flesh, they live by the faith of the Son of God." ^ 
And therefore if I am upheld, it is by the indwelling 
of the Spirit, whose Divine grace and influence is an 
all-sufficient support throughout my dangerous way. 
And will not the dispensations of Providence be the 
appointed means of drawing and keeping me near to 
my God ? If prosperity is endangering my soul and 
baflling my attempt to loosen my heart from the world, 
may I not trust to the ever-watchful kindness of the 
Lord to keep me low, and not to sufl*er me to be at 
ease in my forgetfulness ? If the pleasures of sense, 
if the esteem of the world, or the good report of the 
church, are bringing a bewitching snare upon my soul, 
my God will lead me into the pathway of the cross- 
in the ' valley of humiliation.' 

But how clearly is the secret of an unsteady walk 
traced to a neglect of leaning upon an Almighty arm ! 
And how fearfully is the danger of self-confidence 
unveiled ! If 1 am standing by my own strength, 
very soon shall I be made to feel, that I cannot stand 
at all. No " mountain'' seemed to " stand stronger 

1 Psalm Ixxiii. 23, 24. 2 i^id. cxxxix. 3. ^ jsa. xxix. 3. 
4 John i. 16. ^ Gal. ii. 20. 



312 EXPOSITION OF PSALM CXIX. 

than Solomon's. Yet when he became the very fool'' 
that he describes— trusting in his own heart how 
quickly was it moved ! i 

Peter thought in the foolishness of his heart, that 
he could have walked upon the water unsupported 
by the arm of his Lord ; but a moment's sense of 
weakness and danger brought him to his right mind : 
" and, beginning to sink, he cried, saying—Lord, save 
^Yell would it have been for him, if his 
deliverance at that moment of peril had effectually 
rebuked his presumption. We should not then have 
heard from the same lips that language of most un- 
warranted self-confidence Although all shall be 
offended, yet will not I :~If I should die with thee, 
I will not deny thee in any wise.'' 3 Po^j. deluded 
disciple !' thou art on the brink of a grievous fall ! 
Yet was he ^^held up" from utterly sinking— / 
have prayed for ifAee"— said the gracious Saviour— 
that thy faith fail not:' ^ And thus held up'' 
by the same faithful intercession of my powerful friend 
(whose prayers are not weak as mine— nor will he fail 
or be discouraged "5 by my continual backslidings,) 
too— though in the atmosphere of danger, in 
the slippery path of temptation— ^AaZ/ be safe"— 
safe from an ensnaring world— safe from a treacherous 
heart— safe in life— safe in death— safe in eternity. 
Thus does an interest in the covenant encourage— not 
presumption— but faith in all its exercises of humility, 
watchfulness, diligence, and prayer— the appointed 
way, in which the Lord - keepeth the feet of his 
saints." 

Let me not then forget either my continual liability 

2 mT.^-^'^I?''? 1 Kings xi. 1-10. Proy.xxviii.26. 

, Matt, xiv 28-30. 3 Mark xi v. 29, 31. 

' Lukexxu.31,32. 5 isaiah xlii. 4. 



VERSES 118, 119. 313 

to fall if left to myself, or the faithful engagements 
of my covenant God, to " keep me from falling." 
While I recollect for my comfort, that I stand by 
faith," still is the exhortation most needful — Be not 
high-minded, but fear." ^ By faith I stand," as it 
concerns God — by fear as it regards myself. As light 
is composed of neither brilliant nor sombre rays, but 
of the combination of both in simultaneous action ; so 
is every Christian grace combined with its opposite, 
that it may be perfect and entire, lacking nothing." 
Hope, therefore, combined with fear, issues in that 
genuine, evangelical confidence, in v/hich alone I can 
walk safely and closely with God. Let then the self- 
confident learn to distrust themselves, and the fearful 
be encouraged to trust their Saviour ; and in each let 
the recollection of grace and help vouchsafed in time 
of need " lead to the stedfast resolution — I will have 
respect unto thy statutes continually J ^ — However self- 
denying they may be in their requirements ; however 
opposed in their tendency to " the desires of the flesh 
and of the mind," I take God as the surety of my 
performance of them, and I desire to love them as the 
rule of my daily conduct, and as forming the very 
element of heavenly happiness to my soul. 

118. Thou hast trodden down all them that err from 
thy statutes ; for their deceit is falsehood, — 
119. Thou puttest away all the wicked of the 
earth like dross ; therefore I love thy testi- 
monies. 

The cheerful, grateful determination to "keep the 
statutes of God continually " marks the Lord's people 
from the "wicked of the earth, '' who wilfully "err 
1 Rom. xi. 20. 



314 EXPOSITION OF PSALM CXIX. 

from them,'' And indeed this difference in character 
is indicative of that difference of state, by which the 
purpose and mind of God has separated them from 
each other. His own people the Lord has exalted to 
be ''heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ." ^ 
Even now ''he hath made them to sit together in 
heavenly places in Christ Jesus " — and they will 
shortly '' be a crown of glory in the hand of the Lord, 
and a royal diadem in the hand of their God,"--- - 
while the ungodly " are trodden down as the mire 
of the streets," 3 and "put away like dross'' from 
the precious gold. " Reprobate silver shall men call 
them, because the Lord hath rejected them." ^ Even 
in chastening the Lord marks this difference : his own 
children h'e upholds with a Father's hand, — The 
wicked he treads down" with his wrathful frown. 
Thus it was from the beginning — in his conduct to 
the two first children of men ^ — and in his selection 
of Enoch,6 Noah,7 and Abraham » from the world 
of the ungodly, " as vessels of honour meet for the 
Master's use." 9 In after ages he made the land of 
Egypt " know, that he put a difference between the 
Egyptians and Israel" his own people, that should 
dwell alone, and not be reckoned among the nations" 
—a people, whom he had *' formed for himself that 
they should shew forth his praise," 12 And the same 
difference he has been pleased to make ever since 
between his people and the world— in their charac- 
ter — their way^^ — their exercises of mind — their 

1 Rom. viii. 17. Ephes. ii. 6. Isaiah Ixii. 3. 

3 Mic. vii. 10. Mai. iv. 3. ^ jgr. yi. 30. 

5 Gen. iv. 4, 5. Heb. xi. 4. ^ Gen. v. 22—24. Heb. xi. 5. 

7 Gen. vii. 1. ^ Ibid. xii. 1—3. 

^ 2 Tim. ii. 21. Exodus xi. 7. 

" Numb, xxiii. 9. Isaiah xliii. 21. 

^3 1 John V. 19. Prov. XV. 9. 

1^ Rom. viii. 5. 



VERSES 118, 119. 315 

services ^ — their privileges ^ — and their prospects.^ 
At the day of judgment the separation will be com- 
plete — final — everlasting — When the Son of man 
shall come in his glory, and all his holy angels, then 
shall he sit upon the throne of his glory ; and before 
him shall be gathered all nations, and he shall separate 
them one from another, as a shepherd divideth his 
sheep from the goats — And he shall set the sheep on 
his right hand, but the goats on the left ; and these 
shall go away into everlasting punishment ; but the 
righteous into life eternal/' ^ mark the character 

of the ungodly— They err from God's statutes^' — 
not in their minds through ignorance, but in their 
hearts '' ^ through obstinacy. They do not say — 
^ Lord, we know not ' — but — ^' We desire not the know- 
ledge of thy ways.'' 6 It is not frailty — but unbelief ; 
not want of knowledge — but love of sin. It is wilful 
— damnable. Justly therefore are they identified with 
the " wicked of the earth and marked out as alike, 
objects of the Lord's eternal frown— alike expectants 
of the vengeance of eternal fire." 

And is not this a solemn word of warning to those 
that forget God " — that " they shall be turned into 
hell ? "T to " the proiid "—that in " the day that shall 
burn as an oven they shall be as stubble ? " ^ — to the 
worldly — that in some night of forgetfulness, their 
souls will be required of them ?9 — to the hypocrites 
in heart"— that they are ''heaping up wrath ?" 
Thus does the eye of faith discern through the appa- 
rent disorder and confusion of a world in ruins, the 

1 Prov. XV. 8. 2 Ibid. iii. 32, 33. ^ ])an. xii. 2. 

4 Matt. XXV. 30—33, 46. Compare iii. 12 ; xiii. 30. Mai. iii. 
16—18. 

^ Psalm xcv. 10. ^ j^^ ^xi. 14. ^ Psalm ix. 17. 

^ Mai. iv. 1. 9 Lui^g xii. 19, 20. Dan, v. 30, 

^0 Job xxxvi. 13. 



316 EXPOSITION OF PSALM CXIX. 

just, holy, and equitable, government of God.— 
Clouds and darkness are round about him*: right- 
eousnesss and judgment are the habitation of his 
throne." ^ If the ^yicked seem to triumph, and the 
righteous to be trodden down under their feet, it 
shall not be always so. The end- and wages of 
sin is death the ungodly shall not stand in 
the judgment, nor sinners in the congi'egation of the 
righteous." ^ 

How awful then and almost desperate their con- 
dition I Their deceit is falsehood deceiving 
and being deceived " ^—perhaps given up to believe 
their own lie — perhaps one or another blessing them- 
selves in their own heart," saying I shall have 
peace, thotigh I walk in the imagination of my own 
heart, to add drunkenness to thirst." ^ What then is 
our duty ? Carnal selfishness says — ' Be quiet— let 
them alone '—that is — " Destroy them by our " indo- 
lence and unfaithfulness, ''for whom Christ died."* 
But what does Scripture — conscience— nay more— what 
does common humanity say ? " Cry aloud— Spare 
not. "8 Awake the sleepers— sound the alarm—'' Xow 
is the accepted time— the day of salvation " 9 — and 
now is the moment to lift up the prayer, and stretch 
forth the hand for " plucking the brands out of the 
fire." 10 " To-morrow, the door may be shut, never 
to be opened more." 

How awful the judgment of being ''put away like 
dross ! " Look at Saul when " put away "—going 
out, to harden himself in the sullen pride and sorrow 
of his own heart. Hear the fearful doom of Israel— 

1 Psalm xcvii. 2. ^ Rom. vi. 21. ^ Ibid. vi. 23. 

Psalm i. 5, ^ 2 Tim. iii. 13. ^ Deut. xxix. 19, 

7 Comp. Rom. xiv. 15. ^ Isaiah Iviii. 1. 
9 2 Cor. vi. 2. Zech. iii. 2. Jude 23. 

^1 Matt. xxY. 10. ^-1 Sam. xxviii. 5—25. 



VERSE 120. 317 

Son of man ; the house of Israel is to me become 
dross, all they are brass, and tin, and iron, and 
lead, in the midst of the furnace ; they are even 
the dross of silver. Therefore saith the Lord God — 
Because ye are all become dross, behold, therefore, 
I will gather you into the midst of Jerusalem, as 
they gather silver, and brass, and iron, and lead, 
and tin, into the midst of the furnace, to blow the 
fire upon it, to melt it ; so will I gather you in mine 
anger and in my fury ; and I will leave you there, 
and melt you.'^ ^ But how should this justice 
of the Lord's proceedings endear his statutes to us ! 
If the Lord were less observant of sin — less strict 
in its punishment as a transgression of his word— 
we should lose that awful display of the holiness 
of the word, which above every other view commends 
it to our love — ''Thy word is very pure; therefore 
thy servant loveth it/' - 

120. My flesh tremhleth for fear of thee, and I am 
afraid of thy judgments. 

The justice of God is a tremendously awful subject 
of contemplation, even to those who have nothing to 
fear from its terrors. The believer in the act of wit- 
nessing its exhibition in the Lord's righteous dealings 
with the wicked of the earth," cannot forbear to 
cry out — ^' My flesh tremhleth for fear of thee.^^^ 
Thus were the holy men of old constrained to tremble 
even with a frame approaching to horror in the Divine 
presence — Destruction from the Almighty saith 
holy Job, was a terror to me; and because of his 

1 Ezek, xxii. 18—20. - Verse 140. 

2 ' A thrilling horror curdles my skin.* The thing cannot be 
poetically expressed without periphrasis.-— Bishop Horsley. 

P 3 



318 



EXPOSITION OF PSALM CXIX. 



excellency I could not endure ^ Such also was the 
prophet's sensation in the apprehension of the judg- 
ments of Grod — When I heard, my belly trembled^ 
my lips quivered at the voice ; rottenness entered into 
my bones. " And thus, when God comes to tread 
down and put away " his enemies for the display of 
the holiness of his character, and to excite the love" 
of his people— those that stand by, covered and un- 
hurt, cannot but take up their parable and say — 
Alas ! Who shall live, when God doeth this ? " ^ We 
cannot see our Father angry — (such is his ''terrible 
Majesty"^) — without an awful fear; and it is this 
trembling in his judgments upon the ungodly, that 
secures us from the heavy stroke. Those that refuse 
to tremble shall be made to feel, while those that are 
''afraid of his judgments" shall be secure — "Only 
with thine eves shalt thou behold, and see the reward 
of the wicked." ^ "I trembled in myself" — said the 
prophet — " that T might rest in the day of trouble."^ 
Even the manifestations of his coming "for the sal- 
vation of his people " are attended with all the marks 
of the most fearful terror — as if his voice would shake 
the earth to its very foundation — " Thou didst cause 
judgment to be heard from heaven — the earth feared 
and was still, when God arose to judgment, to save all 
the meek of the earth^"^ To distinguish this godly 
trembling as the character of the child of God, we 
need only conti'ast it with the exhibition of the un- 
2:odly "Where is the God of judgment? l^Tiere is 
the promise of his coming ? The Lord will not do 

1 Jobxxxi. 23. ' Hab. iii. 16. 

3 Numb. xxY. 23. ^ Job xxxvii. 22. 

^ Psalm xci. 8. ^ Hab. iii. 16. 

' Psalm Ixxvi. 8, 9. See the effect of a manifestation of the 
glory of the Saviour to the Evangelist for the purpose of special 
consolation and support. Rev. i. 17, 18. Comp. also Dan. x, 8 — 17. 



VERSE 120. 319 

good, neither will he do evil is the language of a 
scoffing world — running upon the thick bosses of 
his buckler/' ^ instead of trembling for fear of him." 
Such a spirit of stoutness against the Lord " ^ seems 
to excite the astonishment of the hosts of heaven, as 
most discordant to their notes of humble praise— 

Who shall not fear thee, O Lord ? and glorify 
thy name; for thy judgments are made manifest." ^ 
Such is the special acceptance of this trembling 
spirit that some favourable symptoms of it prevailed 
to obtain a respite even for wicked Ahab,^ and a 
pardon for the penitent Xinevites ; ^ while its genuine 

tenderness of heart" screened Josiah from the doom 
of his people/ and will ever be regarded with 
the tokens of the favour of the terrible God — " To 
this man" — ^saith he — will I look, even to him that 
is poor, and of a contrite sphit, and trembleth at 
my word.,^'' ^ 

Believers in Christ! Rejoice in your deliverance 
from that fear which hath torment." 9 Yet cherish 
that holy reverential fear of the character and judg- 
ments of God, which will form your most effectual 
safeguard from presumptuous sins." The very 
supposition, that if God had not engaged himself to 
you by an unchangeable covenant, his eternal judg- 
ments would have been your eternal portion, is of 
itself sufficient to mingle the wholesome ingredient 
of fear into the most established assurance. What ! 
Can you look down into the burning bottomless 
gulf beneath your feet, without the recollection — 
If I were not immoveably fastened to the Rock 

1 Malachi ii. 17. 2 Peter iii. 4. Zeph. i. 12. 

2 Job XV. 26. 2 Mai. iii. 13. Rev. xv. 4. 

^ I Kings xxi. 27—29. ^ John iii. 5—10. 

7 2 Chron. xxxiv. 27. ^ Isaiali Ixvi. 2, 5. 

9 1 John iv. 18. Psalm xix. 13. 



^20 EXPOSITION OF PSALM CXIX. 

of Ages'' by the strong chain of everlasting love, 
here must have been my abode through the countless 
ages of eternity ! If I had not been thus upheld 
by the grace, as well as by the providence of God, 

1 might have dropped out of his hand, as one and 
another not more rebellious than I have fallen, into 
this intolerable perdition.— O God! ''my flesh, trem- 
bleth for fear of thee, and I am afraid of thy judg- 
ments:' Thus let it not be supposed, that the 
apprehension of the judgments of God is necessarily 
of a slavish and tormenting character. It is his 
saints who are called to fear him ; " i and their fear, 
so far from ''gendering unto bondage," is consistent 
with the strongest assurance : 2 nay even— is its fruit 
and efFect.3' It is at once the principle of present 
obedience^ and of final perseverance.^ It is the 
confession of weakness, unworthiness, and sinfulness, 
which lays us low before our God. Its use is most 
important in the regulation of the Christian temper. 
It is the ''bit and bridle'' that curbs the froward- 
ness of the flesh, and enables us to " serve God 
acceptably'' in the remembrance, that though in love 
he is a reconciled Father, yet in holiness he is "a 
consuming fire." ^ 

Now, if we are under the influence of this reveren- 
tial awe and seriousness of spirit, we shall learn to 
attach a supreme authority and consideration to the 
least of his commands. We shall dread the thought 
of wilfully off*ending him. The fear of grieving him 
will be far more operative now, than the fear of hell 
was accustomed to be in our state of unconversion. 
Those who are disposed to presume upon their gospel 

^ Psalm xxxiv. 9. 

2 Comp. Hab. iii. 16, with 17, 18. a Heb.xii. 28 
Ibid. xi. 7. ^ Ibid, iv, 1. s y^^^^ ^ii. 29, with 28* 



VERSE 120. 



321 



liberty, will not probably understand this lan^age. 
Yet is there no humble believer that will not have 
observed, how intimately " the fear of the Lord" is 
connected with the comfort of the Holy Ghost," i 
and with his own steady process in holiness and 
preparation for heaven. 

1 Acts ix. 31. Compare Matt, xxviii. 8. 



P 5 



322 



EXPOSITION OF PSALM CXIX. 



PART XVI. 

121. I have done judgment and justice ; leave me not 
to mine oppressors — 122. Be surety for thy 
servant for good: let not the proud oppress me. 

There is something very solemn in the reflection, 
that God has set up a Vicegerent in the heart— 
an internal Judge who takes cognizance of every 
thought, every emotion, every act— determining its 
character,^ and pronouncing its sentence. This tribu- 
nal tries every cause without respect of persons, time, 
place, or any circumstances that may be conceived 
to separate it from other cases under the same juris- 
diction. No criminal can escape detection from de- 
fect of evidence. No earthly power can hinder the 
immediate execution of the sentence. The sentence 
then of this awful Judge, whether " accusing or 
excusing," i is of infinite moment. The ignorant 
expression—' Thank God, I have a clear conscience ! ' 
— is used alike by the self-righteous and the care- 
less. The awakened sinner however pleads guilty 
to the accusations of conscience, and knows not how 
to answer them. Blessed be God for the revelation 
of his Word, which proclaims the blood of Jesus 
— sprinkling the conscience — silencing its charges — 
and setting before the sinner the way of peace ! And 
now through Jesus — ''the new and living way 
of access to God, conscience, sitting on the throne 
—speaks peace and acceptance ; and though sins 

^ Rom. ii. 15. 



VERSES 121, 122. 323 

of infirmity will remain, defiling every thougbt, desire, 
and act of the soul ; yet like the motes on the face 
of the sun in the clearest day, they will have little or 
no influence to obstruct the cheerful light from shining 
upon the heart. ^ 

The clearing of conscience is however connected 
with integrity of Christian profession. " If our heart 
condemn us not, then have we confidence before GodJ^" 
This testimony of conscience has often been " the 
rejoicing'^'"* of the Lord's people, when suffering under 
unmerited reproach or proud oppression." They 
have been enabled to plead it without offence in the 
presence of their holy, heart-searching God ^ — nay, 
even when, in the near prospect of the great and 
final account, they might well have been supposed to 
shrink from the strict and unerring scrutiny of their 
Omniscient Judge. ^ 

Perhaps however we are not suiBciently aware of 
the importance of moral integrity in connexion with 
our spiritual comfort. Mark the boldness which it 
gave to David in prayer. — I have done judgment 
and justice ; leave me not to mine oppressors'^ Can 
my heart and conscience respond to this appeal ? 
Thus may I plead my cause before God — Leave 
me not to my oppressors^ — Let not the proud oppress 
me." Plead my cause with them. Let my righteous- 
ness be made known. Let it be seen that thou wilt 
not leave me in their hand nor condemn me when 
I am judged. Let integrity and uprightness preserve 
me; for I wait on thee."^ But if any deviation 

1 See Hebrews x. 19—22. - 1 John iii. 21. 

3 2 Cor. i. 12. 

^ Samuel— 1 Sam. xii. 3 — 5. Nehemiah — xiv. 14, 22. Job — 
X. 7. David— Psalm vii. 3 — 6 ; xviii. 20—24 ; xxvi. 1, 6. Paul 
— Rom.ix. 1 ; and the Apostles — 1 Thess. ii. 10. 

Isaiah xxxviii. 1 — 3. ^ Psalm xxxvii. 33 ; xxv. 21. 



324 EXPOSITION OF PSALM CXIX. 

from the exact rule of righteousness between man 
and mani has been allowed — if the world have found 
occasion to charge me as ungodly, because they have 
proved me unrighteous — then let me not wonder that 
" the consolations of God should be small with me ; 
nor let me expect a return of the Lord's gracious 
manifestations, until the Achan has been removed 
from the camp, ^ and by confession to God, ^ and 
reparation to man, ^ I have " given glory to the 
Lord God of Israel.'' 

But let not such an appeal as is here made be 
thought to savour of Pharisaical pride. It may 
easily be shown, that the highest tone of confidence 
in integrity' is consistent with the deepest prostration 
of evangelical humility. The difference is infinite 
between the proud Pharisee and the upright believer. 
The Pharisee makes the appeal with undisturbed 
self-complacency and self-righteous pleading. The 
believer would ever accompany it with the prayer of 
the Publican — God be merciful to me a sinner." 6 
A deep consciousness of daily deficiency and defile- 
ment constrains him instantly to append the supplica- 
tion — " Be surety for thy servant for good.'' ^ The 
keen eje of the world may possibly not be able to 
affix any blot upon my outward profession; but, " if 
thou. Lord, shouldst mark iniquities ; O Lord, who 
shall stand ? " s Xhe debt is continually accumulat- 
ing, and the prospect of payment as distant as ever. 
I might well expect to be " left to my oppressors," 
until I should pay all that ^> as due 9 unto my Lord. 
But behold I " Where is the fury of the oppressor ? "lo 

1 Matt. vii. 12. 2 xv. 11. Comp. Psalm Ixvi. 18. 

3 Joshua vii. 10—15. ^ j^j^j^ 5 L^j^g ^ix. 8. 

^ Ibid xviii. 9—13. ^ Comp. Psalm xxvi. 11. Neh. xiii. 22. 

8 Psalm cxxx. 3. ^ Matt, xviii. 34. Isaiah li. 13. 



VERSES 121, 122. 325 

The surety is found — the debt is paid — the ransom 
is accepted — the sinner is free. There was a voice 
heard in heaven — deliver him from going down to 
the pit : I have found a ransom.'^ ^ The Son of God 
himself became " Surety for a stranger/^ and ''smarted 
for it." 2 At an infinite cost — the cost of his own 
precious blood— he delivered me from mine oppres- 
sors"— sin — Satan — the world — death— helL ' It was 
exacted, and he was made answerable.^ ^ As Judah 
in the place of Benjamin, he was ready to stand in my 
stead before his Father — " I will be surety for him ; 
of mine hand shalt thou require him." ^ As Paul in 
the stead of Onesimus, he was ready to plead before 
the same tribunal — " If he hath wronged thee, or 
oweth thee aught, put that on mine account— I will 
repay it." 5 Let this subject be ever present to my 
mind. Well indeed was it for me, that Jesus did 
not ''hate suretyship." ^ Had he refused the vast 
undertaking, how could I have answered before the 
bar of God? Or had he consented to have under- 
taken the office only for those that loved him, again 
should I have been left without a plea. But when as 
my Surety he has brought me under his yoke, and 
made me his " servant," I can plead with acceptance 
before his throne — " Be surety for thy servant for 
goody ^ And do I not need such a surety every 
moment? And need I be told how fully Jesus has 
performed the Surety's part? — " So that I may boldly 

5 Job xxxiii. 24. ^ Prov. xi. 15. 

3 isa. liii. 7. Bp. Lowth. ^ Gen. xliii. 9. 

5 Philemon 18. ^ See Prov. xi. 15, last clause. 

7 Compare Isaiah xxxviii. 14, \Yhere the same word is used 
in the original as in this verse— suretij undertake for 
me/* The same plea' is also urged — " Let not the proud oppress 
me." " Lord, 1 am oppressed; undertake:' The same frame 
of conflict is marked— " Mi/? e eyes fail for thy salvation"— wer^e 
123, " Mine eyes fail with looking upicard.*' 



326 EXPOSITION OF PSALM CXIX. 

say Who is he that condemneth ? It is Christ 
that died. There is therefore now no condemnation to 
them that are in Christ Jesus/^ i 

123. Mine eyes fail for thy salvation^ and for the word 
of thy righteousness. 

And do thine ''eyes,'' tried believer, begin to 
''fail ? " So did thy Redeemer's before thee. He, 
whom thou hast been recollecting as thy Surety, when 
he stood in thy place, burdened with the intolerable 
load of thy sin— bearing the weighty strokes of Infinite 
justice upon his soul— he too was constrained to cry 
out, ^^Mine eyes fail, while I wait for my God.''^ 
Listen then to thy deserted Saviour supporting his 
deserted people with his word of gracious counsel; 
yea, for this express purpose, gifted with the tongue 
of the learned, that he should know how to speak 
a word in season to you that are weary — *MVho is 
among you that feareth the Lord, that obeyeth the 
voice of his servant, that walketh in darkness, and 
hath no light? Let him trust in the name of the 
Lord, and stay upon his God."^ And is not " the 
word of his righteousness a ground of trust and 
stay ? Is it not, like himself— enduring for ever ? 
How blessed then is the thought, that, amidst the 
incessant changes in Christian experience, our hope is 
unchangeably fixed ! We may indeed not always 
enjoy it; but our salvation does not depend upon any 
present enjoyment of its consolation. The blessing 
is as certain — yea, our assurance of an interest in it 
as clear, when we are brought to the dust under a 
sense of sin, as when we might " be caught up into 

1 Rom. viii. 33, 34, 1. 2 psajj^ ixix. 3. Comp. xxii. 1—3. 
3 Isa. 1. 4, 10. 4 i pei-gj. ^5. 



VERSE 123. 



327 



the third heaven " in an earnest of glory. In a season 
of desertion, however, while we maintain a godly 
jealousy over our own hearts, let us beware of a mis- 
trustful jealousy of God. Distrust will not cure 
our wound, or quicken us to prayer, or recommend 
us to the favour of God, or prepare us for the mercy 
of the Gospel. Complaining is not humility. Prayer 
without waiting is not faith. The path is plain as 
noon-day. Continue to believe as you can — Wait on 
the Lord — This is the act of faith, depending on him — 
the act of hope, looking for him^ — the act of patience, 
waiting his time — the act of submission, resigned, 
even if he should not come. Like thy Saviour, in 
his agony of desertion, pray more earnestly.^' ^ 
Condemn thyself for the sins of which thou art asking 
forgiveness. Bless him for his past mercy, even if 
thou shouldst never taste it again. Can he frown 
thee from his presence } Can he belie his promise to 
waiting souls ? ^ Impossible 1 Nay : w hile he has 
taken away the sensible apprehensions of his love, 
and in its room kindled longing desires for the lost 
blessing ; is not this to leave behind him the token, 
that, if he be verily a God that hideth himself he 
is still the God of Israel, the Saviour ? " ^ Though 
he delays his promise, and holds us as it were in sus- 
pense ; yet he would have us fully persuaded, that 
he has not forgotten ''the word of his righteousness.'^ 
But this is his wise and effectual mode of trying the 
faith which he has given. And it is this trial of 
faith'^ — and not faith untried — that will be found 
to praise, and honour, and glory at the appearing 
of Jesus Christ." 4 

The full consolation of the Gospel is therefore the 

^ Lukexxii. 44. - Isa. xxx. 18; xlix. 23. 

s Ibid. xlv. 15, ^ 1 Peter i. 7. 



328 



EXPOSITION OF PSALM CXIX. 



fruit of patient, humble waiting for the Lord, and 
of earnest desire, conflicting with impatience and un- 
belief, and at length issuing in a state of child-like 
submission and dependence. The man who was here 
giving expression to his longing expectation for God's 
salvation, was evidently, though unconsciously, in 
possession of the promise. Nor would he at this 
moment have exchanged his hope, clouded as it was 
to his own view, for all the pleasures of sin,^' or the 
riches of the world. Although at this moment he 
appeared to be under the partial hidings of his Father's 
countenance, yet it is important to observe, that he 
was not satisfied as an indolent professor, to lie upon 
his face" Mn this sad condition. His eyes failed 
with looking upward " — stretched up with earnest 
expectation to catch the first rising rays of the Son 
of Righteousness beaming upon his soul. He knew, 
what all Christians know who walk closely with God, 
that his perseverance in waiting upon God would 
issue in the eventful fulfilment of every desire of his 
heart. 2 

But can we assuredly plead *^ the word of his righte- 
ousness'^ for the anticipation of the object of our 
desire ? Have we always an express promise appli- 
cable to our expectations, and ready to put God 

1 Joshua vii. 10. 
- Fox tells us of Mr. Robert Glover, martjT at Coventry, two 
or three days before his death overwhelmed with the prospect 
of martyrdom, and mentioning to a friend his earnest supplication 
for the light of God's countenance, yet without any sense of com- 
fort. His darkness continued up to the period of his arriving 
within sight of the stake, when suddenly his whole soul was so 
filled with consolation, that he could not forbear clapping his 
hands, and crying out — ^ He is come — He is come.* — He appeared 
to go up to heaven in a chariot of fire, with little or no apparent 
sensibility of his cruel death. — Was not this the word of his 
righteousness'' to one, whose eyes failed in looking for it?** 
— Fox's Acts and Monuments, 1555. 



VERSE 123. 329 

in remembrance ^ of his word ? Possibly we may 
have been asking not according to his will/' - and 
therefore may have charged God foolishly," ^ as it 
he had been unfaithful to his word, when no engage- 
ment had been pledged — when we may have had no 
warrant to build upon from ''the icord of his righte- 
ousness.'' If however our petition should be found 
to be agTeeable to his word of promise, and faith and 
patience hold on in submission to his will, we must 
not, we cannot suppose, that one tittle that we have 
asked will fail. ^Yhether the Lord deliver us or not, 
prayer and waiting will not be lost. It is a blessed 
posture for the Lord to find us in, such as will not 
fail to ensure his best blessing, even though our 
request should be denied. An enlivening view of 
the Saviour is in reserve for us, and '' the luord 
of righteousness'' will yet speak — '' This is the rest 
wherewith ye may cause the weary to rest ; and this 
is the refreshing.'' ^ 

But let me bring my own heart to the test of the 
conflict here described. Am I longing for the mani- 
festation of God ? Surely if I am content with what 
I already know, it is too plain a proof, that I know 
but very little of the unsearchable depths of the 
love of Christ ; and that I have abundant need to 
pray for more enlarged desires, and a more tender 
enjoyment of his gracious presence. If faith is not 
dead, yet it may be reduced to so low a state, as 
to act with little of its conquering and quickening 
vigour. Let me then exercise my soul in diligent, 
careful, patient waiting upon God, equally removed 
from sloth and frowardness— and I shall yet find th 
truth of that consoling declaration of '' the word 

^ Isaiah xliii. 26. ^ 1 John v. 14. James iv. 3. 

3 Job i. 22. ^ Isaiah xxviii. 12, also xxx. 15. 



330 EXPOSITION OF PSALM CXIX. 

of his righteousness J"^ Light is sown for the righte- 
ous, and gladness for the upright in heart.'^ i 

124. Deal with thy servant according unto thy mercy ^ 
and teach me thy statutes. — 125. I am thy ser^ 
vant ; give me understandings that I may know 
thy testimonies, 

A SENSE of mercy, and the privilege of Divine 
teaching, were the earnests of the Lord's salvation," 
for which the eyes of his servant were failiny and 
for which he was waiting in dependence upon the 
sure word of his righteousness,^^ And indeed these 
two wants daily press upon every servant of God, 
and bring him in the character of a wrestling sup- 
plicant to the throne of gTace. As it respects the 
first — if there is a sinner upon the earth who needs 
the special mercy of God, it is his own ^' servant,^' 
For as the Lord sees abundantly more excellence 
in the feeblest desire of his heart, than in the most 
splendid external duties of the professor ; so he sees 
far more sinfulness and provocation in the workings 
of sin in his heart, than in the palpably defective 
services of professors, or in the open trausgTCssion 
of the wicked of the earth/' Let him scrutinize 
his motives, thoughts, and affections, even in his 
moments of nearest and happiest approach unto his 
God ; and he will find such defilement cleaving to 
every offering, with all the aggravations of mercy, 
light, and knowledge, vouchsafed, that the confession 
of his soul, when comparing himself with his fellow- 
sinners, will be — " Of whom I am chief.'' 2 ^^d 
therefore if I am a servant''' of God, I can bring 

^ Psalm xcvii. 11. llie same plea under similar circumstances 
of conflict is urged, Psalm cxliii. 1. 2 ^ Tim. i. 15. 



VERSES 124, 125. 331 

my services before him only upon the ground of 
" mercy;'' feeling that for my best performances I 
need an immeasurable world of mercy — pardoning — 
saving— everlasting mercy; and yet emboldened by 
the blood of Jesus to plead for my soul— Deal 
with thy servant according unto thy mercy'' 

But then I am ignorant as well as guilty ; and 
yet I dare not pray for divine teaching, much and 
hourly as I need it, until I have afresh obtained 
mercy. " Mercy " is the first blessing, not only in 
point of importance, but in point of order. I must 
seek the Lord, and know him as a Saviour, before 
I can go to him with any confidence to be my 
teacher. But when once I have found acceptance 
to my petition — Deal with thy servant according 
unto thy mercy''— my way will be opened to follow 
on my petition— Teach me thy statutes. Give me 
understanding, that I may know thy testimonies "— 
that I may know, walk, yea— run in the way of thy 
commandments " i with an enlarged heart. My plea 
is the same as I have before urged with acceptance''- 
— I am thy servant," 

But if I am the Lord's servant, how did I become 
so ? Time was (let me be ashamed and confounded 
in the remembrance of it) when I was engaged for 
another master, and lived in an opposite service. ^ But 
the free, sovereign grace of Jesus called me from 
the dominion of sin— from the chains of Satan — from 
the bondage of the world— and drew me to himself. 

His I am— and him I serve." His service is my 
highest privilege. His reward of grace is my glorious 
prospect. If any man serve me," — saith my Master, 
— let him follow me : and were I am, there shall 

1 Verse 32. - Verse 94. Psalm cxliii. 12. 

3 Rom. vi. 16, 20. Titus iii. 3. ^ Acts xxvii. 23. 



332 EXPOSITION OF PSALM CXIX. 

also my servant he. If any man serve me, him will 
my Father honour J' As his servant therefore, I cast 
myself with confidence upon his mercy, and expect 

to be dealt with according to that mercy,'' Nay 

I shall be denied nothing that I '^ask according to 
his will/' For he has condescended to call me— not 

his servant/' but his friend/' 2_yea more— to 
call himself my brother. ^ 

Lord ! thou hast shewed me thy great favour and 
grace to be thy servant^' I would be thine for 
ever. I love thy service too well to wish to change it 
—yet must I mourn over my dulness, my backward- 
ness in doing thy will, and walking in thy way. O 

teach me thy statutes'' more clearly, more experi- 
mentally. ' " Give me understanding" to discern their 
heavenly sweetness and their holy liberty, that I may 
live in a more simple and devoted obedience to them, 
until I come to see thy face, and to be thy servant" 
in thy heavenly temple, no more to go out."^ 

126. It is time for thee. Lord, to work; for they have 
made void thy law. 

The desire of the Lord's people for a more spiritual 
understanding of his revelation cannot but be accom- 
panied with deep regret, in witnessing the awful neglect 
and contempt, which that revelation receives from 
the world. Indeed it is one of the distinguishing 
features of their character, that they sigh and cry 
for all the abominations of the land "5— that they 
cannot hear or see the name of God dishonoured, 
without feeling as for the wounded reputation of their 

^ John xii.26. 
2 Ibid. XV. 15. 3 Ibid. XX. 17. Heb. ii. U, 12. 

4 Rev. vii. 15 ; iii. 12. 5 Ezekiel ix. 4. 



VERSE 126. 



333 



Father and their Friend.i They cannot suffer the world 
quietly to go on their course. They are anxious to 
throw in their weight of influence, whatever it may 
be, to stem the torrent flowing along them ; and, when 
(as, alas ! is too often the case) they find all their 
efforts unavailing, they carry their cause to the Lord. 

It is time /or thee, Lord, to work." Nor does this 
deprecation contradict the law of love, which requires 
us to love, pray for, and to bless, our enemies.' For 
the Lord's people are not angry for their own cause, 
but for his. David had no regard to his own honour, 
but to God's law. He had not injured his enemies. 
He had laboured to " overcome their evil with good." 
He had often wept for their sins, and prayed for their 
conversion. But all was in vain. ' Now, Lord, take 
the rod into thine own hand. ''It is time for thee, 
Lord, to work." ' This was true zeal— zeal of the 
Spirit, not of the flesh. How gracious is our God in 
permitting his servants thus to plead with him, and, 

1 What a Christian ought to feel under these circumstances, 
let us learn from the following extract of the diary of the saintly 
Marty n. Upon hearing at Shiraz in the course of his disputations 
some reproach of his Saviour's name, he writes thus—' I was cut 
to the soul by this blasphemy. In prayer I could think of nothing 
else but that great day, when the Son of God should come in the 
clouds of heaven, ''taking vengeance on them that know not God," 
and convince men of all their hard speeches which they have spoken 
against him.' (We might almost think that this verse was upon 
his mind at this moment.) * Mirza Seid Ali perceived, that I was 
considerably disordered, and was sorry for having repeated the 
verse, but asked, what it was that was so offensive. I told him, 
that I could not endure existence, if Jesus was not glorified; that 
it would be hell to me, if he were to be always thus dishonoured. 
He was astonished, and again asked the reason why ? * If any one 
pluck out your eyes,' I replied, * there is no saying why you feel 
pain. It is feeling. It is because 1 am one with Christ, that 1 am 
thus dreadfully wounded.' On his again apologizing, I told him, 
'that I rejoiced at what had happened, inasmuch as it made me 
feel nearer the Lord than ever. It is when the head or heart is 
struck, that every member feels its membership' — Marty n's Life, 
p. 420. 8vo. Edition. ^ Matt. v. 44. 



334 EXPOSITION OF PSALM CXIX. 

as it were, to give him no rest, until" i he shall 
arise, and " work,^^ and sit upon the throne of the 
kingdoms of the earth ! 

Let us then be found on the Lord's side— labouring 
for sinners— pleading with their hardness and rebellion 
in our Master's name— and for our Master's sake. 
Let all the weight of personal exertion and influence, 
consistent example, and wrestling supplications— be 
concentrated in " coming to the help of the Lord 
against the mighty." ^ Let us see to it- that we have 
the testimony of conscience that if we cannot do 
what we would— we do what we can.^ And if at 
last overborne by the torrent of ungodliness— we shall 
find our refuge and rest in pleading with our Lord 
for the honour of his name— Remember this, that the 
enemy hath reproached, Lord, and that the foolish 
people have blasphemed, thy name.'' ^ The Lord's 
time to work " will come ; and of this he has given 
his most solemn warning to the ungodly world— My 

Spirit shall 7iot always strive with man.'' ^ Often 

when the Lord has seen " it time for him to work, 
when they have made void his law "—have his judg- 
ments made the earth to tremble. Sodom and 
Gomorrah " have " known the power of his anger," 
and are " set forth for an example, suff'eriug the venge- 
ance of eternal fire."^ And when his '^time to work" 
is fully come, what is all the resistance of earth and 
hell, but as setting the briars and thorns against 
him in battle ? " "I would "— saith he-" go through 
them. I would burn them together." 7 A word— a 
frown— a look— is destruction. " He is wise in heart, 
and mighty in strength. Who hath hardened himself 

1 Isaiah Ixii. 7. 2 j^^^gg^ ^ 23. 3 ^ark xiv. 8 

^ Psalm Ixxiv. 18, also verses 10, 11. s Gen. vi. 3. 

^ Jude 7. 7 Isaiah xxvii. 4. 



VERSE 126. 335 

against him, and hath prospered ? " ^ Or who hath 
resisted his will ? " ^ 

But what shall we say of that stupendous instance 
of the mightiness of his hand, by which— when men 

had made void his law"— when no restrictions could 
bind, no forbearance win them— when he saw that 
there was no man, and wondered that there was no 
intercessor, therefore his arm brought salvation unto 
him, and his righteousness it sustained him?'^^ Surely, 
if we could conceive the hosts of heaven to have taken 
up this expression of ardent concern for the glor^' 
of God — "It is time, for thee, Lord, to ivork ; for 
they have made void thy Zaz^ they could little have 
thou2:ht of such a work as this— thev could never have 
conceived to themselves such an unlooked-for display 
of power, justice, and mercy, meeting in one glorious 
work. To set at nought then this work— is it not to 
refuse all hope— all remedy ? To persist m making 
void the law " after so magnificent an exhibition of the 
working of God— must it not expose the transgTessors 
to reap the fruit of their own obstinacy, and to pre- 
pare to meet him as their Judge, whom they refuse 
to receive as their Saviour ? Nor must they wonder, 
if the Lord's people with a holy indignation against 
sin, and fervour of zeal for his glory, should appeal to 
his faithfulness for the fulfilment of his judgments— 
"It is time for thee, Lord, to work ; for they have 
made void thy law,^^ 

1 Job ix. 4. - Rom. ix. 19. ^ Isaiah lix. 16. 



EXPOSITION OF PSALM CXIX. 



127. Therefore I love thy commandments above gold; 
yea, above fine gold. 

The scorn and reproach, which the commandments 
of God meet with from the world, serve to enhance 
their value in the estimation of the Lord's people. 

Gold— yea fine gold ''—the hope, confidence, and 
idol of the worldling,i and the love of which has been 
the ruin of thousands 2 — has no glory in their eyes 
compared with the word of God. Again and again 
they are ready to exalt its praises, as more to be 
desired than gold ; yea, than much fine gold. ^ 
^^The merchandize of it is better than the merchan- 
dize of silver, and the gain thereof than fine gold. It 
is more precious than rubies ; and all the things thou 
canst desire are not to be compared unto it." ^ Here 
has the Lord unlocked to his people his golden trea- 
sure, and enriched their souls with the unsearchable 
riches of Christ.'' The image employed brings before 
us the picture of the miser. His heart and treasure 
are in his gold. With what delight he counts it ! 
with what watchfulness he keeps it ! hiding it in safe 
custody, lest he should be despoiled of that which 
is dearer to him than life. Such should Christians 
be : spiritual misers : counting their treasure which is 
above fine gold; " and hiding it in their hearts," 5 

1 Job xxxi. 24. 2 I Tim. vi. 9, 10. 

3 Psalm xix. 10. ^ Prov. iii. 14, 15. 

^ Verse 11.— Augustine tells us of himself, that while a Mani- 
chee, he slighted the Scripture for the plainness of its style, 
which appeared to him (from a false standard of criticism) not 
to^ be compared with the dignity of Ciceronian eloquence. (Visa 
mihi est indigna scriptura quam Tullianse dignitati corapararem. 
Confess, lib. iii. cap. 5.) But after his blessed acquaintance with 
Christ, though Tully \vas still read with pleasure, yet this thing 
alone— said he— abated his former interest, that the name of Christ 
was not there. Lib. iii. cap. 4. 



VERSE 127. 337 

in safe keeping, where the gTeat despoiler shall not be 
able to reach it. Oh, Christians ! how much more 
is your portion to you than the miser's treasure ! 
Hide it ; watch it : retain it. You need not be afraid 
of coveteousness in spiritual things: rather ''covet 
earnestly^' 1 to increase your store; and by living 
upon it and living in it, it will grow richer in extent, 
and more precious in value. 

But have I through Divine grace been enabled to 
withdraw my love from the unworthy objects which 
once possessed it, and to fix it on that which alone 
offers satisfaction ? Let me attempt to give a reason 
to myself of the high estimation in which I hold 
it, as infinitely transcending those things which the 
world ventures their all — even their temporal happiness 
— to obtain. '' Therefore I love the commandments 
of God above gold; yea, above fine gold'^ — because, 
while the world and my own heart have only com- 
bined to flatter me, they have discovered to me my 
real state as a self-deceived, ^ guilty,-^ defiled ^ sinner 
before God : because they have been as a ''school- 
master to bring me to Christ," ^ and therefore the 
blessed means of guiding me to the only remedy for 
sin, the only rest for my soul. " / love them ; " 
because they have often supplied wholesome reproof 
in my wandering; and plain direction in my per- 
plexity. " I love them;'' because they restrict me 
from that which would prove my certain ruin ; and 
because in the way of obedience to them, the Lord 
has " accepted me with my sweet savour." ^ Should 
I not ''love them?'' Can ''gold, yea, fine gold," 
offer to me blessings such as these ? Can it heal my 

1 1 Cor. xii. 31. - Rom. vii. 9. ^ James ii. 10. 
4 Rom. vii. 14. ^ Gal. iii. 24. 

^ Ezekiel xx. 41. Compare Isaiah Ixiv. 5. 

Q 



838 



EXPOSITION OF PSALM CXIX.- 



broken heart ? Can it giye relief to my wounded 
spirit ? Has it any peace or prospect of comfort for 
me on my death-bed ? And what cannot — what has 
not, what will not — the precious word of God do at 
that awful season of trial ? O my G#d, I would be 
deeply ashamed^ that I love thy coimnandynents^'' 
no better than I do — that they are so little influential 
upon my conduct — that they so often give place to 
objects of comparative nothingness in thy sight. O 
that my heart might be wholly and habitually exer- 
cised in thy precepts, that I may find the '' work of 
righteousness to be peace, and the efi'ect of righteous- 
ness, quietness and assurance for ever 1 - 



128. Therefore I esteem all thy precepts concerning all 
things to he right ; and I hate every false way. 

The effect of Divine gi'ace will be visible upon the 
judgment as well as upon the afl'ections. Xot only- 
will the Christian in the fervour of his heart love 
the commandments even above fine gold; " but his 
''love will abound yet more and more knowledge 
and in all judgment,^ ^ - This will lead to an intelli-^ 
gent and universal regard to them " €stee7?iing all the 
precepts concerning all things to be light,'^ This 
constitutes the Christian's separate and exclusive cha- 
racter. This difference indeed from the thoughtless 
worldling is "known and read of all men/*' But his 
difference fi'om the professor of religion, though really 
as distinct in the sight of God, is far less perceptible 
to general observation. Consisting more in the state 
of heart, than in any external mark of separation, it 
is often only within the ken of that eye, whose sove- 



Isaiah xxxii. 11, 



- Phil. i. 9. 



VERSE 128. 339 

reign prerogative it is to search the heart/' ^ and 
to weigh the spirits.'' 2 Many would profess to 
esteem the precepts to he right,'' so far as they in- 
culcate the practice of those moral virtues of which 
they may be able to present some faint exhibition, 
and demand the abandonment of those sins, from the 
external influence of which they may have been de- 
livered. But when they begin to observe the ''ex- 
ceeding breath of the commandment " 3— how it takes 
cognizance of the heart— and enforces the renunciation 
of the world, the crucifixion of sin, and the entire 
surrender of the heart unto God ; this searching 
touchstone of profession separates them from the 
church, and exposes to the light of open day the brand 
of hypocrisy upon their foreheads. The true child 
of God is attentive to every duty, and every circum- 
stance and obligation of duty. He loves the evangeli- 
cal as well as the moral precepts— those that teach him 
to renounce himself in every part (his sins as a source 
of pleasure, and his duties as a ground of dependence) ; 
and to believe in him as the only ground of hope, whom 
''the Father sent to be the Saviour of the world." ^ 
He never complains of the strictness of the precepts ; 
but he is continually humbled in the recollection of his 
nonconformity to them. " Every way,'' however pleas- 
ing to the flesh, that is opposed to the revealed will 
of God, i^" hated," as ''false" in itself, and "false" 
to his God. This "godly sincerity" will apply to 
every part of the Christian Directory. So that any plea 
offered for the indulgence of sin (as if it admitted of 
palliation, or was compensated by some surplus duty, 
or allowed only for some temporary purpose) or any 
wilful shrinking from the universality of Christian 

2 Jer. xvii. 10. - ^ Prov. xvi. 2. 

3 Verse 96. ^ 1 john iii. 23. John vi. 29. 

Q 2 



340 



EXPOSITION OF PSALM CXIX. 



obedience — blots out all pretensions to uprightness of 
heart. If holiness be really loved, it will be loved for 
its own sake^ and equally loved and followed in every 
part,^ By this entire ''approval of things that are 
excellent/' we shall ''be sincere and without offence 

unto the dav of Christ.'' 2 

1/ 

O my soul, canst thou abide this close test of 
Christian integiity ? Hast thou as much regard to 
the precepts and duties, as to the privileges and 
comforts of the Gospel ? Is no precept evaded from 
repugnance to the cross that is entailed upon it ? Is 
no secret lust retained ? Art thou content to let all 
go ? If my hatred of sin is sincere, I shall hate it 
more in my own house than abroad ; I shall hate it 
most of all in my own heart. Here lies the grand 
seat of hypocrisy. And therefore may the great 
Searcher of hearts enable me to search into its depths ! 
May I take the lamp of the Lord to penetrate into 
its dark interior hiding-places of evil ! May I often 
put the question to my conscience — ' What does the 
Omniscient " Observer of men'' know of my heart ? ' 
Perhaps at the time that the Church holds my name 
in esteem, the voice of conscience, as the voice of God, 
may whisper to me — " That which is highly esteemed 
among men is an abomination in the sight of God." ^ 
Some " evil way/' yet undetected within, may keep 
me lifeless and unfruitful in the midst of the quicken- 
ing means of gi^ace. Let me look into my house — 
my calling — my family — my soul ; and in the course 
of this search how much matter will be found for 
prayer, contrition, renewed determination of heart, and 
dependence upon my God ! " that my ways were 
directed to keep thy statutes ! I will keep thy statutes^ 



^ 2 Cor. vii. I. 



- Phil. i. 10. 



Luke xvi. 15. 



VERSE 128. ^1 

forsake me not utterly ^ ^ And oh ! let my spirit 
be wounded by every fresh discovery of sin. Let my 
soul bleed under it. But specialli/ and instantly— 
let me apply to the fountain opened for sin and for 
uncleanness." Here let me wash my soul from the 
guilt of sin, and regain my peace with God. And to 
him, who opened this fountain, let me also repair for 
a large supply of spiritual strength. May his power 
and grace sharpen my weapons for the spiritual con- 
flict, until every secret iniquity is overcome, and for 
ever dispossessed from my heart ! 



1 Verses 5, 8. 



Q 3 



342 EXPOSITION OF PSALM CXIX. 



PART XVII. 

129. Thy testhnonies are wonderful ; therefore doth 
my soul keep them. 

The unsearchable depths of the word of God will 
make the believer a learner to the end of his life. Even 
he, who " was caught up into paradise, and heard 
unspeakable words, which it is not lawful for a man 
to utter,'' ^ was brought to the same adoring con- 
templation of the revelation of God— O the depths 
of the rich'es both of the wisdom and knowledge of 
God ! '' 2 Every way indeed is this revelation worthy 
of him, the first title of whose name is " Wonderful." 3 
It lays open to the heaven-taught soul, what eye 
hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither hath entered into 
the heart of man." ^ Think of the Creator of the 
world becoming a creature — yea — ''a curse for " ^ 
man. Think of man — guilty and condemned — made 
just with God by a righteousness not his own.^ Think 
of God bringing out of the ruinous fall more glory to 
himself, and more happiness to man, than from his 
former innocence — in the display of his mercy — the 
glory of his justice and the investment of sinners — not, 
as before, with a creature's righteousness, security, 
and reward — ^but with his own rigteousness,"^ guardian- 
ship,^ and glory. 9 Think how *'the way into the 

1 2 Cor. xii. 4. 2 ^iom. xi. 33. 

3 Isaiah ix. 6. 1 Cor. ii. 9. 

5 John i. 1---3, with Gal. ill. 13. Phil. ii. 6—8. 
6 Rom. iii. 19—22. 7 jer. xxiii. 6. 1 Cor. i. 30. 

s John vi. 39 ; x. 28. Col. iii. 3, 4. 

^ John xvii. 21--24. Rev. iii. 21. 



VERSE 129. 343 
holiest of all is " thus " made manifest." ^ Think how 
abounding grace is the death as well as the pardon 
of sin «— the present as well as the everlastmg life ot 
the souP-these are among the stupendous discoveries 
of the sacred book, that constrain the acknowledgment 
from the humble and reflecting mind-" Thy testi- 
monies are wonderful." Let us therefore j oin with the 
Apostle, to " bow our knees to the God and Father 
of our Lord Jesus Christ "-that we " might be able 
to comprehend wii/i all saints" (for blessed be God ! 
the privilege is common to all his people) " what is 
the breadth, and length, and depth, and height : and 
to know the" unsearchable "love of Christ,"* "in 
whom are hid all these treasures of wisdom and 

knowledge." ^ 

And how delightful is the recollection of their 
" testimonies " being our " heritage for ever." « For 
they are scarcely less "wonderful" in their practical 
fulness than in their deep unfathomable mysteries of 
love. Such is the infinite enlargement of this our 
" heritage" that he who foreknew every thought that 
would find an entrance into the minds of his people, 
has secretly laid up in these " testimonies," a word 
of seasonable direction and encouragement for every, 
even the most minute, occasion and circumstance of 
need to the end of their days. Here again is wTapped 
up, in words fitted by wisdom to receive the reve- 
lation, all that intercourse between God and man, 
throughout all ages of the Church, which is treasured 
up in" the vast unsearchable depository of the Divine 
mind and purpose. Can we then forbear repeating the 
exclamation—" Thy testimonies are wonderful?" 

1 Heb. ix. 8, with s. 19, 20. = ^>*7': i"^- 

3 John iv. 14 ; vi. 57 ; xiv. 6, 19. Eph. m 4, 18, 19. 

sCol.ii.S. 6 Verse 111. 



344 EXPOSITION OF PSALM CXIX. 

But we should not be satisfied with ' adoring the 
fulness of Scripture/ i without seeking to imbibe and 
exhibit its practical influence. With the child of God 
—holy admiration of the " testimonies," will kindle 
spiritual devotedness to them. " Therefore doth my 
soul keep them." The stamp of Divine authority 
upon them, while it deepens his reverence, commands 
his steady and cheerful obedience ; but how affecting 
IS the thought of the mass, who look at these wonders 
with a careless or unmeaning eye, unconscious of their 
interesting import ! They pass by the door of the 
treasury, hardly condescending to look aside into it; 
or at best only taking a transient glance, which presents 
nothing to their eyes of its inexhaustible stores. " I 
have written to them " saith the Lord, " the great 
things ^of my km : but they are counted as a strange 
thing." 2 But far more wonderful is it, that we, en- 
lightened in some measure, in answer to prayer,3 with 
the Spirit of wisdom and revelation *_ should often 
be so indifferent to the mysteries of redeemmg love 
here unfolded before us, and should experience so 
little of their practical influence ! Oh ! let the recol- 
lection of our indolence, and want of conformity to 
them, never cease to humble us. Let us not enter 
into the testimonies of God as a dry task, or an 
ordinary study ; but let us concentrate our minds, 
our faith, humility, and prayer, in a more devoted 



1 <■ 



f rr 1 1?'° P^e.^^t^^^l^em Scripturarum ' was the exclamation 
ot Tert-Qlhan— ' m which posture of holy admiration ^—said the 
deeply-learned and pious Dr. Owen-^ I desire my mind may 
found while I am in this world.' ^ 



\vhat do I not owe to the Lord for permitting me to take a 
part m the translation of his word ? Never did I see such wonders 
and wisdom, and love, in the blessed book, as since I have been 
obliged to study every expression ; and it is a delightful reflection 
that death cannot deprive us of the pleasure of studvin- its mvs' 
teries.'— Martyn's Life, p. 271. ^ ° ^ 

2 Hosea viii. 12. 3 ^ee Verse 18. 4 Eph. i. 17. 



VERSE 130. • -^^-^ 

contemplation of them. Every such exercise will 
extend our view of those parts, with which we had 
conceived ourselves to have been competently ac- 
quainted : and a new field of wonders will open on 
every side, far beyond our present contracted appre- 
hensions. 1 And can any joy be imagined so sublime 
as the adoring contemplation of the revelation of 
God 1 It is the constant employment of angels. It 
eno-ao-es their every faculty with intense admiration 
and delight. ^ And while they behold and worship 
with self-abasement, their obedience is lively. ' ' ^T' ith 
twain he" (the seraphim before the throne) '-covered 
his face, and ^vith twain he covered his feet, and with 
tivain he did fly^'^ Thus may we study the same 
lessons, and with the same spirit ! May our con- 
templation humble us in the dust, and animate us 
in the service of our God ! " Thij testimonies are 
ivonderful; therefore doth my soul keep them/' 

130. The entrance of thy words giveth light ; it giveth 
understanding unto the simple. 

So wonderful are thy testimonies," gracious God, 
that even by touching as it were only the threshold 
of them, the entrance of thy words giveth light and 

1 Augustine found this so experimentally true, that he tells us, 
' that though he should with better capacity and greater dihgence 
study all his life-time, from the beginning of his childhood to 
decrepit age, nothing else but the Holy Scriptures ; yet they are 
so compacted and thickly set with truths, that he might daily 
learn something which before he knew not.' — Aug. Epis. 

To this truth the late venerable Antistes Hess set his seal at the 
age of eighty-six, when he informed a young Missionary of the 
Society for promoting Christianity among the Jews, that ' for 
seventy years the word of God had been the daily object of his 
unremitting researches ; and that still he discovers in it new traces 
of the mysterious love and wisdom of God.' — Jewish Expositor, 
Xov. 1825. 

- See 1 Peter i. 12. ^ Isaiah vi. 2. 

Q o 



346 EXPOSITION OF PSALM CXIX. 

understanding unto my heart. The study, com- 
menced in simplicity and prayer, opens an " entrance '' 
to the word with its first dawnino^ lio-hf into the 
soul, often only sufficient to make darkness visible, 
but shining' more and more unto the perfect day.*'i 
Indeed all the sphitual light known in this dai^k world 
has flowed from the T^'ord of God, forcing its " en- 
trance,'' like the beams of the sun, upon the opening: 
eyes of a man that was born blind." It is one of 
the most striking instances of Divine condescension, 
that this Word— so wonderfuP' in its high and 
heavenly mysteries— should yet open a path so plain, 
that the poorest and most illiterate may find and walk 
in it. Indeed when the word gains an " entrance '' 
into unintellectual and uncultivated mmds, we often 
observe an enlargement and elevation of thought, 
which is like the earnest of the restoration of man 
to liis original glory, when doubtless every mental 
as well as spiritual faculty was filled with all the 
fulness of God.'' < From any one page of this Divine 
book, a child, or even an idiot, under the teaching 
of God, may draw more instruction than the most 
acute philosopher could ever obtain from any other 
fountain of light ; nay— he may acquire a more in- 
telligent perception of its contents than the student, 
untaught by the Spirit of God, who may have de- 
voted to the study of it the persevering industry of 
many successive years. For very possible is it to 
be possessed of all the treasures of literature, and 
yet to remain in total ignorance of every thin^, that 
IS most important for a sinner to know, s xke Apostle's 

^ ProY. iv. 18. _ Epb.iii, 19. Comp. Col. iii. 10. 

fi. T^-ti ^^^^ extraordinary thing/ said one, ^ If I, who have read 
the Bible over and over in the original languages, have studied it 
day and night, and have written criticisms and comments on it- 



VERSE 130. 

apparently paradoxical rule is— If any man among 
you seemeth to be wise in this world, let him become 
a fool, that he may be wise/^ ' We do not mean 
to disparage human wisdom ; but it is the pride 
of wisdom — vf\):\c\\ is so opposed to the simplicity 
of the gospel— which prevents us from " sitting at 
the feet of Jesus, and hearing his word''— which 
makes the teacher instruct in " the words of man's 
wisdom" rather than in the knowledge of Christ 
and him crucified " 2— and which hinders the learner 
from receiving Christ in the light and love of the 
truth. 

It is painful to remember how much light may be 
shining around us on every side, without finding an 

entrance" into the heart— The light shineth m 
darkness ; and the darkness comprehended it not." ^ 
Not only the pride of human reasoning— but the love 
of sin shuts out the light— Men loved darkness 
rather than light, because their deeds were evil J' ^ 
And thus in a vast multitude of cases, because " the 
eye is evil, the whole body is full of darkness ; " and 

if the light that is in them is darkness, how gTcat is 
that darkness." 5 Most awful is the view given us 
of the conflict between the contending powers of light 

a very extraordinary thing, that I should not be able to understand 
that meaning in the Scriptures, which is said to be so piam, that 
a wayfaring man, though a fool, shall not err m the discover- 
ing of it.' And so it is extraordinary, till we open the Bible ; and 
there we see the fact explained. The man who approaches the 
^^ord of God in his own wisdom shall not find what the fool_ 
discover under the teaching of Divine wisdom. tor it is 
written, I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and will bring to 
nothing the understanding of the prudent"— and God hath 
chosen the fooUsh things of the world to confound the wise. — 
Cecil's Remains. 

1 1 Cor. iii. 18. - Com.p. Ibid, n- 1— 4. 

3 John i. 5, apprehended it not."— Scott. admitted it not. 
— Campbell. 

4 jbid.iii. 19, 20. 5 Matt. Yi. 23. 



348 EXPOSITION OF PSALM CXIX. 

and darkness-- The god of this world blinding the 
eyes of them that believe not, lest the light of the 
glorious gospel of Christ who is the image of God, 
should shine unto them the Almighty God resisting 
his hateful influences, and shining into the hearts - of 
his people, - to give the light of the knoioledge of the 
glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.'' i How 
necessary is it to watch vigilantly against every dis- 
position to refuse admission to the light of Gd^! 
How much more - entrance^' would have been given 
to the Word, and consequently how much greater 
would have been the diffusion of light in the soul, 
were we as earnest and diligent in secret prayer for 
Divine teaching, as we are accustomed to be in the 
public hearing of the word ! 

But the enthusiast is not satisfied with the light 
of the word. Led by the delusion of his own heart, 
he expects a light within — an immediate revelation 
of the Spirit— independent of the word. It cannot 
however be safe to separate the light of the Spirit 
from the light of the word. The word indeed moves 
in subserviency to the Spirit, but the light of the 
Spirit is no where promised as dissociated from the 
word. If it does not always guide directly by the 
word, yet its influence is only perceptible in the direc- 
tion of the word. The word is in the matter, if not 
in the mode ; and, though the Spirit may by imme- 
diate light direct us to any path of duty, yet it is 
invariably to that path which had been previously 
marked by the light of the word. Thus the Spirit 
and the word conjointly become the guide of our way 
—the Spirit enlightening and quickening the word — 
and the word never failing to evidence the light of the 



Compare 2 Cor. iv. 4—6. 



VERSE 130. 349 

Spirit; nor will their combined influence ever leave 
the church of God, unless she has joyfully and com- 
pletely entered into Immanuel's land, where she shall 
need no other light than that of the glory of God, and 
of the Lamb, which shall shine in her for ever.i 

But — E^eader — rest not satisfied with whatever 
measure of light may have been hitherto vouchsafed. 
Seek that the word may have an entrance ministered 
unfo you abundantly .^^ The most advanced believer 
is he, who is most ready to acknowledge, how much 
of the word yet remains unexplored before him.^ 
Cultivate the disposition of simplicity— the spirit of a 
•Mittle child " 3— willing to receive, embrace, submit 
to, whatever the revelation of God may produce before 
you. It is to this spirit that the promise of heavenly 
light is exclusively made — ''the testimony of the 
Lord is sure, making wise the simple. The meek will 
he guide in judgment, the meek will he teach his 
way." 4 It is beautiful to see a man, like Solomon, 
endued with enlarged powers of mind^—acknowledg- 
ing himself to be a little child— afraid of trusting in 
his own light— and seeking instruction diligently in 
prayer and meditation upon the Word. But never 
will a proud unhumbled mind know the benefit of this 
Divine instruction. To such a student, the Bible 
must ever be a dark book ; since it is its very design 
to destroy that disposition, which they bring to the 
inquiry. That knowledge therefore, which is unable 
to direct our way to heaven — nay, which by closing 
the avenues of spiritual light — obstructs our entrance 
thither is far more a curse than a blessing. Far more 

1 See Rev.xxi. 23. 
2 See the testimonies adduced in the notes on the preceding 
verse. ^ Matt, xviii. 3. 

■1 Psalm xix. 7 ; xxv. 9. M Kings iv. 29-— 34. 



350 EXPOSITION OF PSALM CXIX. 

glorious is the simplicity of the Word than the wisdom 
of the world. 

In that hour Jesus rejoiced in spirit, and said, I 
thank thee, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, he- 
cause thou hast hid these things from the wise and 
prudent, and hast revealed them unto bahes : even so, 
Father, for so it seemed good in thy sight.'' ^ 

131. I opened my mouth and panted ; for I longed for 
thy commandments. 

When the " wonderfuV' character of God's testi- 
monies " is apprehended ; and when their entrance 
has given light to the soul; " something far beyond 
ordinary affection and desire is excited. A thirsty 
man — burning with inward heat on a sultry day, and 
^'opening his mouth and panting'' for some alleviation 
of his thirst — is the expressive image employed to 
describe the unutterable longings of the child of God 
for the attainment of the object of his desires. Or, 
if we suppose before us the man nearly exhausted 
by the heat of his race, and opening his mouth and 
panting " to take in fresh breath to renew his course ; 
not more naturally does *Hhe sun rejoice as a strong 
man to run his race"^ in the heaven, than the spiri- 
tual man to run his race to glory. He cannot satisfy 
himself in his desires. The motions of his soul to 
his God are his life and his joy. It is a spring of 
perpetual motion beating within — perpetual because 
natural — a principle— having indeed its faintings and 
its sickness, but still returning to its original spring 
of life and vigour. It seems as if the soul could never 
draw in enough of the influences of the spiritual life. 

* Luke X. 21. 2 Psalm xix. 5. 

3 For another illustration of this image, see Job xxix. 23. 



VERSE 131. 351 

Its longings are insatiable. It is as if the heart would 
break with''^ the overpowering strength of its own 
desires, until at length tired with the weariness of the 
conflict, the believer " opens his mouth and pants'' 
to fetch in a fresh supply of invigorating grace. 
Thirsty for a little reviving/' 2 he finds it in the 
enjoyment of the commandments of his Lord— enjoy- 
ing the Lord himself in the way of his commandments, 
as the well-spring of refreshment to his soul.^ Hear 
the man of God giving, or rather attempting to give, 
expression to his ^'pantings'^ in other Psalms— ''As 
the hart panteth after the water-brooks, so panteth 
my soul after thee, O God. My soul thirsteth for 
thee ; my flesh longeth for thee in a dry and thirsty 
land where no water is. I stretch forth my hands 
unto thee; my soul thirsteth after thee as a thirsty 
land." 4 Thus was it, that Job ''opened his mouth 
and panted.'' — " O that I knew where I might find 
him ! that I might come even unto his seat ! " ^ — 
And the church, when she was able to pour out her 
heart before the Lord — '' With my soul have I desired 
thee in the night ; yea, with my spirit within me will 
I seek thee early.'' ^ St. Paul also describes his own 
experience by the same intenseness of desire — " Not 
as though I had already attained, either were already 
perfect ; but I follow after, if that I may apprehend 
that for which also I am apprehended of Christ 
Jesus. Brethren, I count not myself to have 
apprehended : but this one thing I do ; forgetting 
those things which are behind, and reaching forth 
unto those things which are before, I press towards 
the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in 

1 Verse 20. Ezraix. 8. • ^ gee on verse 20. 

^ Psaim xlii. 1 ; Ixiii. 1 ; cxliii. 6. ^ Job xxiii. 3. 

^ Isaiah xxvi. 9. 



352 EXPOSITION OF PSALM CXIX. 

Christ Jesus/' 1 But amidst all these examples, and 
as vifinitely beyond them behold the ardour of our 
blessed Master in his work. Such was the " panting'' 
of his heavenly desire, that when ^ ^ wearied with his 
journey/' and sitting at Jacob's well/' he forgot 
even his natural want for his thirsty frame, in the 
fulfilment of his desire of the conversion of a lost 
sinner to himself. 2 

Nor let us be satisfied, unless our affections are thus 
engaged in full and constant exercise, s The soul 
must be kept open to Divine influence ; so that, when 
we feel the Lord touching us with conviction, inclin- 
ing our hearts to himself, and constraining us to his 
service, we may be ready to exercise oi?r souls unto 
godliness," 4 in receiving, cherishing, and improving 
the heavenly principle, by which we have been excited 
to "long after his commandments;'' and may ''open 
our^nouths and pant,'' for more advanced progress in 
them. It is not so much the quantity, as the activity 
of faith that we regard ; always at work, stirring up 
a holy fire within for the utmost stretch of human 
attainment, like men of large projects and high deter- 
minations, still aspiring to more of God, both in the 
enjoyment of his love, and in conformity to his will. 
And shall we be ashamed of these feelings ? Shall 
we not rather be deeply humbled, that we know so 
little of them— encouraged, if we have any springing 
of them— alarmed, if we be utterly destitute of their 
influence ? Shall we not be " opening our mouth and 

1 Phil.iii. 12— 14. 2 joj^n iv. 6, 31—34. 

' Be always displeased with what thou art, if thou desirest to 
attain to what thou art not; for where thou hast pleased thvself, 
there thou abidest. But if thou sayest— ^ I have enough '—thou 
perjshest. Always add— always walk— always proceed. Neither 
stand still, nor go back, nor deviate.'— Augustine. 

1 Tim. iv. 7. 



VERSE 131. 353 

panting'' when any new path of service is opened 
before us ? For if we are content to be strangers to 
this 'Monging" after God— this readiness for duty; 
nothino; else can be expected, but " sliding back from 
the Lord by a perpetual backsliding." i Growing in 
sin, declining in love, and gradually relinquishing the 
habit of prayer, we shall shortly find little attaching 
to us in the Gospel but the empty imme— Christianity 
without Christ. The world will despise Christian 
exercises as enthusiasm, the distemper of a misguided 
imagination. But is it — can it be — otherwise than a 

reasonable service," - as well as a bounden obliga= 
tion, to give up our whole desires to him, who alone 
is worthy of them ? There can be little evidence of 
their sincerity, unless they are supreme. 

But let the spring of this Christian ardour be kept 
in motion in union with Christ, and the life flowing 
from him. Let me seek for a larger influence of that 
all-constraining principle — the love of Clirist. The 
more of this love — the more panting and longing " 
will there be in the service of God, and the less com- 
plaints of coldness and deadness of heart. Let me 
then ask myself— What is the pulse of my desires 
after spiritual things ? Do I pant, thirst, long, after 
the enjoyment of heavenly pleasure ? Do I mourn 
over and conflict with that indolence and indifference 
of spirit, which so often hinders my race ? Am I 
found frequently at the throne of grace, bewailing my 
dulness, and seeking for gTeater enlargement of desires 
and a more intense appetite ? Surely such desires 
will issue in the confidence of faith.—'' My soul shall 
be satisfied as ivith inarrow and fatness'' ^ 

1 Jer. viii. 5. " Rom. xii. 1. ^ Psalm Ixiii. 5. 



354 EXPOSITION OF PSALM CXIX. 



132. Look thou upon me, and be merciful unto me, as 
thou usest to do unto those that love thy name. 

The highest ardency of holy desire is not presented 
to God as any ground of satisfaction. Nor does the 
believer in his most elevated moments forget his proper 
character— always a sinner — needing mercy every 
moment in every duty. His prayer for mercy there- 
fore suitably follows his exalted expression of love — 

Look thou upon me, and be merciful unto me/^ Mercy 
is indeed secured to him beyond the powers of earth 
and hell to dispoil him of it ; but the comfortable 
sense of thi^ mercy is vouchsafed only according to 
the strength of his desires and the earnestness and 
simplicity of his faith. And this is indeed a blessing, 
with which no earthly source of satisfaction will be 

worthy to be compared.'^ What are all the riches 
of the world without it, but splendid poverty — as 
little able to supply the place of Jesus in the soul, 
as the magnificent array of the starry firmament to 
compensate for the absence of the sun? It is night 
with the child of God — Egyptian night— darkness 
which may be felt,'' i until his Sun appear to chase 
away his griefs and gloom — until his Lord manifests 
himself in answer to his cry— Look thou upon me, 
and be merciful unto meJ^ To have this portion of 

those that love the name^^ of God is then the grand 
object of desire. To have our offering, as Abel's was,^ 
accepted with God — to walk as Enoch walked,^ with 
God — to commune with him as Abraham, ^ and Moses,^ 
were privileged to do — to be conformed with the holy 

1 Exodus X. 21. 2 Gen.iv.4. 

^ 3 Ibid. V. 24. 4 ibid.xviii. 17—33. 

^ Exodus xxxiii. 11 ; Deut. xxxiv. 10. 



VERSE 132. 355 

Apostle 1 to the death of Christ—in a word to be 
interested in all the purchase of a Saviour's blood— 
this is the heritage of the Lord's servants,"— this 
is the " one thing that we have desired of the Lord, 
and are seeking after " this,"— we can testify 
with the dying Psalmist— is all our salvation and 
all our desire." 3 Remember me then, O Lord, 
with the favour that thou bearest unto thy people ; O 
visit me with thy salvation ; that I may see the good 
of thy chosen, that I may rejoice in the gladness 
of thy nation, that I may glory with thine inherit- 
ance." ^ 

And yet, alas ! how often has the power and 
deceitfulness of sin cast us into so lifeless a state, that 
we are not only living without the enjoyment of this 
portion, but at rest without it ; scarcely knowing or 
caring whether the Lord look on us or not. Can we 
wonder, that our gracious long-suffering God, should 

hide himself," ^ and go and return to his place ? " ^ 
His next manifestation will probably be in the way 
of sharp conviction, making us to feel our distance, 
our coldness, our baiTcnness ; and this contrast of our 
sad condition with those who are walking in the favour 
of their God, will again bring forth the cry—'' Look 
thou upon me, and be merciful unto me, as thou usest 
to do unto those that love thy name''' An answer to 
this prayer offered in the humility, earnestness, and 
perseverance of faith, though it may be awhile delayed, 
will surely never be forgotten^ If therefore we cannot 
yet '' sing in the ways of the Lord,"^ yet let us not 
cease to mourn after him, till he look upon us, and 

1 Phil. iii. 10. Gal. ii. 20. ^ Psalm xxvii. 4. 

3 2 Sam. xxiii. 5. . Psalm cvi. 4, 5. 
5 Isaiah Ivii. 17. ^ Hoseav. 15. 

7 Comp. Isa. XXX. 18. Hab. ii. 3. ^ Psalm cxxxviii. 5. 



^Ob EXPOSITION OF PSALM CXIX. 

satisfy us with his mercy. i And oh ! let us remem- 
ber, that there is but one way, through which one 
gi-acious look, or one expression of tender mercy, can 
ever visit our souls. Let our eyes and heart then be 
ever fixed on Jesus. For if the Lord can look upon 
us,'' so as not to behold " iniquity in us," it is only in 
this his beloved Son. We are complete m him." ^ 
But when this prayer has received its answer, whether 
in the goings of our God in the sanctuary," s or in 
the more secret manifestation ^ of his love : now then, 
Christians, arise and shme." 5 Let it be known, 
that you have been on the mount with God, by the 
lustre of your face, the adorning of your profe^ion, 
before the world. 

Lord.! since our looks to thee are often so slight, 
so cold, so distant, that ho impression is made upon 
our hearts, do thou condescend continually to look 
upon us with mercy and with power. Vouchsafe 
us such a look, as may bring us to ourselv^es, and 
touch us with tenderness and contrition in the re- 
membrance of that sin, unbelief, and disobedience, 
which pierced the hands, the feet, the heart of our 
dearest Lord and Saviour. ^ 



133. Order my steps in thy word; and let not any 
iyiiquity have dominion over me. 

To expect the favour of the Lord without an 
habitual desire of conformity to his image, is one 
among the many delusions of a self-deceiving heart. 
It is the peculiar character of the Chiistian, that his 

^ Psalm xc. 14. 
2 Compare Xumb. xxiii. 21. Ephes. i. 6. Col. ii. 10 
I Psalm ixYiii. 24. 4 ^i^^ ^^^^ 21—23. 

Isaiah Ix. 1. 6 Co^p_ ^^^^ ^^^--^ 



VERSE 133. 357 

desires are as earnest for deliverance from the power 
as from the guilt of sin. Even could we conceive the 
Lord to look upon him'' with a sense of his favour, 
he would still feel himself a miserable creature, until 
he had received an answer to his prayer — Let not 
any iniquity have dominion over vie.'' 

But it is often difficult to mark the power of temp- 
tation from the prevalence of sin, and thus precisely 
to ascertain, when iniquity " may be said to " have 
dominion over usJ' It is clearly, however, the influ- 
ence of temptation— not as acting upon the mind — but 
as admitted with consent into the heart. It is this 
actual consent of the will obtained, by the deceitful- 
ness and solicitations of sin, that marks its real ''do- 
minion,'' Light, knowledge, and conscience, may open 
the path of holiness ; but while the will— the sovereign 
power in the soul — dissents, the reigning power of sin 
continues undisputed. Much care, however, much 
singleness, and a most jealous scrutiny of the springs 
of action, are required, accurately to determine the 
bias of the will, and consequently the " dominion of 
iniquity," The perplexed conflicting soul may mistake 
the rebellion for the dominion of iniquity" — its 
continued impression upon the heart for its ruling sway. 
On the other hand the unavoidable, but constrained, 
opposition of conviction may present some hopeful 
appearance of deliverance, while the dominant prin- 
ciple is till unshaken. The present resolution to any 
particular act of sin may be weakened, while the love 
and habit of it remains unaff"ected. Sin is not always 
hated when it is condemned, or even forsaken ; nor are 
duties always loved in the act of their performance. 
The opposition to sin, which the awakened superficial 
professor considers as his evidence of uprightness of 
heart, is often only the unavailing resistance of a 



358 EXPOSITION OF PSALM CXIX. 

natural enlightened conscience to the ruling principle 
of the heart. The light and power of conscience may 
do much in condemning every known sin, and in re- 
straining from many ; in illustrating every known duty, 
and insisting upon the external performance of many ; 
while yet the full doyninion of iniquity'' is undis- 
turbed. Were not Ahab and Judas as completely 
under the " dominion of iniquity'' after their repent- 
ance as they were before ? i Did not Balaam, with 
all his knowledge — and the young ruler, with all his 
loveliness of natural character and promising semblance 
of sincerity— lack that one thing ''2_a heart de- 
livered from the dominion of its own iniquity ? At 
the same time, however,— not occasional surprisals, 
resisted workings, abhorred lusts, nor immediate in- 
jections of evil and blasphemous thoughts, but only the 
ascendency of sin in the affections— i^xo-yg^ its reigning 
power. The throne can admit but of one ruler; and 
therefore, though gTace and iniquity may and do co-exist 
within, they cannot be co-partners in one sovereignty. 

How inestimably precious is the thought, that 
deliverance from this cursed dominion is inseparably 
connected with a state of acquaintance with God ! 
The man who enjoys the unspeakable blessing of 
pardoned iniquity, is he ^^in whose spirit there is no 
guile.'' 3 He desires to have a work done within him, 
as well as for him. He longs to know his Saviour as 
a whole Christ — " made of God unto him Sanctifi- 
cation and " complete Redemption," as well as 
Righteousness.'' ^ jje comes to the cleansing foun- 
tain as the double cure of his iniquity — equally 
effectual to wash from its power as from its guilt. 
Habitual respect to the word of God is an important 

^ 1 Kings xxi. 27 xxii. Matthew xxvii. 3—5. 
2 Mark x. 21. 3 psai^ xxxii. 1, 2. ^1 Cor. i. 30. 



VERSE 133. 359 

means of sanctificatioii. David had been accustomed 
to hide it in his heart," as a preservative from sin ; ^ 
and, from his own experience of this safeguard he had 
recommended it to the special attention of the young 
for the cleansing of their way." ^ Yet the recollec- 
tion of his continual forgetfulness of this rule, and of 
his conscious inability to observe it, leads him to turn 
it into a matter of prayer—'^ Order iny steps in thy 
word:' And indeed, if we are living very close to 
God, (much closer than the generality of Christians 
are content to live) we shall be most fearful of walking 
alone, ^^'e shall desire to have every step ordered for 
us by our heavenly Father's word, to avoid the devious 
paths which present themselves on either side, beset 
with imperceptible danger ,'and spread with the fowler's 
snare. And what a blessed path would this be for us, 
if we had singleness and simplicity always to ''look 
right on, and^ straight before us ! " ^ But alas ! w^e 
are often only half roused from our security. The 
word is forgotten ; or there is an unreadiness to receive 
its Divine impression. Our own wisdom is consulted ; 
and, or ever we are aware," " iniquity " regains a 
temporary dominion over us J' 

Now I w ould ask myself —What do I know of such 
a walk as this ? Am I fi^quently during the day 
looking upward to my gracious guide ; and then look- 
ing into his word as my direction in the way ; and 
lastly, considering my heart and conduct, whether it 
is " ordered in the word ? " Let me remember, that 
it is only the man who has '' the law of God in his 
heart," that possesses the security, that " none of his 
steps shall slide." ^ How important therefore is the 
inquiry, when I take a step into the world— Is it 

1 Verse 11. ^ Verse 9. 

3 Prov.iv. 25, " ^ Psalm xxxvii. 31. 



360 EXPOSITION OF PSALM CXIX, 

ordered in God's word ? I would desire also that 
my steps might be ordered with special regard to 
that part of God's word, which exhibits Christ as my 
perfect example ; that, walking after him, and follow- 
ing in his steps, T may be able to frame my temper 
and habits according to this unsullied pattern. 

But let us mark the special promise of the Gospel 
as the warrant for this prayer— Sin shall not have 
dominion over you ; for ye are not under the law, but 
under grace,'' The law stirred up sin— gave it in- 
creasing power; while it left ns to our unspirited 
exertions to subdue it. Sin besets us. We watch, 
pray, and strive against it ; yet alas ! it mocks our 
efforts, rages, yea, tyrannizes more than ever. 2 But 
the sight of a free pardon through the blood of Jesus 
subdues ' pride, rebellion, enmity, selfishness. - We 
trust in him as an Almighty conqueror, and are made 
ourselves " more than conquerors through him that 
loved us. "3 It is his office, his crown, his glory. As 
sure as his name is Jesus, will he save his people 
from their sins." 4 This is the appointed means of 
present relief— the only hope of final victory. In- 
iquity," even when subdued, will struggle to the last 
for dominion ; " but looking to and living on Jesus, 
we have the victory still. The more clear our view 
of Jesus, the more complete the victory will be. Sup- 
plies of continual strength will ever be vouchsafed to 
restrain the " dominion of iniquity,'' and even to 
keep under " its daily risings ; except as they may 
be needful for the exercise of our graces, and be 
eventually overruled for the glory and praise of our 
faithful God. 



^ Rom. -yi. 14. 
^ Ibid. viii. 37. 



2 Ibid. vii. 8. 1 Cor. xv. 56, 
^ Matt. i.2i. 



VERSE 134. 



361 



134. Deliver me from the oppression of man ; so will 
I keep thy precepts. 

Many are the afflictions of the righteous " not 
only from the " iniquity'' of the heart, but ''from 
the oppression of man.^^ Yet man is only the Lord's 
'' hand and sword." ^ jje cannot move of himself; 
and he will only be permitted to move under the 
overruling guidance of our Father's wisdom and love. 
Not indeed that the believer would (at least irre- 
spective of submission to the will of God) ^ desire 
his '' deliverance from" this trouble on account of 
personal pain and distress ; but that he sometimes 
finds peculiar circumstances of trial an unavoidable 
hindrance in the service of his God. And this con- 
viction urges his importunate supplication before his 
God, where he never makes interest in vain. " He 
cries unto the Lord because of the oppressors ; and 
he sends a Saviour, and a great one : and he delivers 
him, The power of faith is indeed Omnipotent — 
'' Mountains are removed from their place, or they 
become plains before"^ it; or the *^worm" is 
enabled to '' thresh them, and beat them small, and 
make them as chafi^." Often is the Christian 
strengthened to overcome the most formidable oppo- 
sition, and to '' profess a good profession before many 
witnesses," 7 who are '' watching" and wishing for 
his halting." 8 The gi'ace of Christ will make the 
hardest duty easy ; and the love of Christ will 
make the sharpest trials sweet ; yet, where in the 

^ Psalm xxxiv. 19. ^ Ibid. xvii. 13, 14. 

3 See the example of David, 2 Sam. xv. 25, 26 ; and of David's 
Lord, Luke xxii. 42. 

4 Isaiah xix. 20. ' ^ Matt. xxi. 21, 22. Zech. iv. 7. 
^ Isaiah xli. 14, 15. 7 i Tim. vi. 12. § Jer. xx. 10, 

R 



362 EXPOSITION OF PSALM CXIX. 

continued exercise of faith the obstacles to consci- 
entious obedience remain unmoved, it will form a 
subject of acceptable petition, that the gracious 
Providence of God would open some plainer and 
more encouraging path for the observance of his 
precepts—'^ Deliver me from the oppression of man ; 
so will I keep thy precepts 

A child of God, bound in the fetters of a worldly 
family, and restrained by an authority, to which 
deference is justly due, from a free and unreserved 
obedience to the Lord, might send up this prayer 
with assured acceptance. A time of deliverance 
from the oppression of man,'' as well as a time of per- 
secution from his enmity, has sometimes proved a sea- 
son of extraordinary prosperity in the church of God. 
It was, when the Churches had rest throughout all 
Judea and Galilee and Samaria,'' that they were 
edified; and walking in the fear of the Lord, and in 
the comfort of the Holy Ghost, they were multiplied.''^ 
And thus in individual experience, whatever be the 
benefit of persecution, yet the weariness of a long 
protracted conflict is often more than flesh and blood 
can bear ; and which he who " knoweth our frame," 2 
will not refuse to look upon, and remove in answer to 
the prayers of his afflicted people. At the same time, 
our proneness to self-indulgence, and our natural in- 
clination to shrink from the appointed cross, require 
this prayer to be presented with exceeding caution and 
self-jealousy. There is great danger, lest, in our 
eagerness to escape from the difficulties of our path, 
we should lose the important benefit intended by 
them. We must therefore accompany the petition for 
deliverance with a sincere and upright purpose to 



^ Acts ix. 31. 



^ Psalm ciii. 14. 



VERSE 134. 



363 



'^^ keei) God^s precepts.'^ For how many have exposed 
their ignorance of their own hearts, when the suppli- 
cation has been heard, and the deliverance granted, 
and the promise of obedience been forgotten ! 

Fellow-christian ! have your circumstances of trial 
ever dictated such a prayer ? How then have you 
improved your liberty, when the answer has been 
vouchsafed ? Has the way of escape " made for you 
been kept in grateful remembrance ? Has the effect 
of your deliverance " been visible in an increasing 
love and devotedness to the Lord's service ? Oh ! let 
a special Ebenezer be set up to mark this special 
achievement of prayer. ^ Let the mercy vouchsafed 
be connected with the sympathy of our faithful and 
merciftd High-Priest — who, being himself touched 
with the feeling of your infirmities " — has pleaded for 
your succour and release. ^ And be encouraged 
henceforth to tread the ways of God with more firm- 
ness and sensible stay — having your feet shod with 
the' preparation of the Gospel of peace/' ^ But re- 
member — the blessing of the cross is lost, if it does 
not issue in a song of praise — if we have not been 
able to take it in our arms, and receive it as a token 
of fatherly love. At all times the safest and shortest 
way to peace, is to be made willing that God should 
use his own methods with us ; to be engaged in every 
situation in doing all w^e can for him ; and to leave 
ourselves, our difficulties^ our discouragements, in his 
hands, who makes no mistakes in any of his dipensa- 
tions with his people — but who orders them all, that 
they may turn to their salvation through their prayer, 
and the supply of the Spirit of Jesus Christ."^ 

1 1 Sam. vii. 12. 2 Heb. iv. 15 ; ii. 18. 

3 Eph. vi. 15. . .4 Phil. i. 19. 



R 2 



364 



EXPOSITION OF PSALM CXIX. 



135. Make thy face to shine upon thy servant ; and 
teach me thy statutes. 

Let the Lord deliver us from the oppression of 
man,'' and ''make even our enemies to be at peace 
with us ; 1 still, if we are in spiritual health, we shall 
be restless and uneasy, until he make his face to 
shine upon us,'' And in the Scripture revelation of 
the character of God — dwelling between the cheru- 
bims,"2 and therefore on the mercy-seat ^ — with the 
'' rainbow,'^ the emblem of '' the covenant of peace,'^ 
'' round about the throne,'' as if to invite the access 
of sinners, from every quarter — have we not full 
wanant to expect the desired blessing ? Are we not 
emboldened to plead — Thou that divellest between 
the cherubims, shine forth ; stir up thy strength, and 
come and save us ? Turn us again, O God ; and 
cause thy face to shine, and we shall be saved 7^^^ 
Others we see eagerly looking for some scattered 
crumbs of goodness in the world. Let them seek 
what they please, and find what they can ; they will 
discover at last, that they have '' spent their money 
for that which is not bread, and their labour for that 
which satisfieth not."^ Xhe believer's incessant cry 
is — Let me see " the King's face." This is a blessing 
worth praying for. It is his heart's desire — his present 
privilege —and what is infinitely better, his sure^ — ^ 
everlasting prospect — '' They shall see his face." 

But it is both important and interesting to mark the 
repetitions in this beautiful Psalm, David had just 

^ Prov. xvi. 7. 
^ 2 Kings xix. 15. Psalm xcix. 1. Ezek. x. 1^ — 5. 

Exodus XXV. 17 — 22. with Romans iii. 25. 
^ Rev. iv. 3. 5 Psalm Ixxx. 1— 3> 

^ Isaiah Iv-. 2. ^ Rev. xxii. 4. 



VERSE 135. 



365 



before prayed — " Look thou upon me, and he merciful 
unto me." * Here again he offers up, with some slight 
variation, the same prayer—'' Make thy face to shine 
upon thy servant,'' Such cries in the mouth of this 
holy servant of God, must have been most hopeless 
petitions— nay, the expression of the most daring pre- 
sumption ; had he not been acquainted with the only 
true way of access to God, joyfully led to renounce 
every other way, and enabled diligently to improve 
this acceptable approach to his God, Indeed, what- 
ever obscurity may hang over the question relating to 
the faith of the Old Testament believers, their con- 
fidence at the throne of grace shews them to have 
attained a far more distinct perception of Christian 
privilege, through the shadowy representations of their 
law, than is commonly imagined. Else how could 
they have been so wrestling and persevering in their 
petitions — so successful in overcoming the spirit of 
bondage, and in breathing out the spirit of adoption in 
the expression of their w^ants and desires before the 
Lord ? The prayers of the Old Testament church are 
not more distinguished for their simplicity, spirituality, 
and earnestness, than for their unfettered, evangelical 
confidence. When they approached the footstool of 
the Divine Majesty, with the supplications—'' Make 
thy face to shine upon thy servant''—" Thou that 
dwellest between the cherubims, shine forth— it was as 
if they had pleaded — ' Reconciled Father, thou that 
sittest upon a throne of grace— look upon us !—Abba, 
Father, he gracious to us!' 

Many, however, seem to despise this evangelical 
confidence. They go on in heartless complaining and 
uncertain apprehensions of their state ; as if doubting 



1 Verse 132. 



366 EXPOSITION OF PSALM CXIX. 

was their life, and they might rest upon the presump^ 
tion, that the - shining of God's face upon them'' is 
not indispensable to their salvation. But will they 
then be content to be saved, yet so as by fire," i 
instead of having - an entrance ministered unto them 
abundantly into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord 
and Saviour ? ^' Is it enough for them to be>^^ alive, 
when - the things that remain" from want of being 
duly cherished -are ready to die ? ^' If they can 
be safe without a conscious interest in the favour of 
God, can they be so without the desire for it ? Is not 
this assurance attainable ? Is it not commanded ? 2 
Is it not most desirable ? God's people are living 
habitually either in a state of spiritual enjoyment or 
of restless dissatisfaction. Their dark seasons are 
times of wrestling supplication seasons of deep hu- 
miliation,^ tenderness of spirit,^ and constant waiting 
upon God,6 until he ''makes his face to shine upon 
his servants:' And thus they exhibit the secret in- 
fluence of the principle of assurance, even when there is 
no sensible enjoyment of this most important blessing. 

But how— it may be asked—is this happy state of 
sun-shine to be realized ? Its chief hindrances (apart 
from the indulgence of sin ; or a course of secret 
backsliding from God) are found in mistaken or con- 
tracted views of the gospel. The chief means of attain- 
ment, therefore, will be included in enlarged appre- 
hensions of the Gospel of the grace of God— of its 
fulness, satisfying every claim, and supplying every 
want— of its freeness, unencumbered with conditions, 
and holding forth encouragement to the most unworthy 

^ Compare 1 Cor. iii. 15. 2 Peter i. 11. 

2 See 2 Cor. xiii. 5. Heb. vi. 11. 2 Peter i. 10. 

3 Psalm Ixxxviii. 1—3 ; cxxx. 1, 2. 

4 Lam. iii. 20—22. Mic. vii. 9. ^ L^m. iii. 31—40 
Psalm xl. 1—3 ; cxxx. 5, 6. Isa. viii. 17 ; 1. 10. 



VERSE 135. 3^*7 

—and of its security, affording permanent rest in the 
foundations of the covenant of gTace. Thus will the 
life of faith be maintained in constant exercise. Each 
successive day will be marked by some fresh contem- 
plation of Jesus, and some renewed reliance upon him ; 
and thus walking in closer communion with him, our 
hope will be enlivened with the constant sense of re- 
conciliation and love. 

We need not wonder at the persevering determi- 
nation, with which the Psalmist was led to seek - the 
shining of the Lord's face upon" him. This high 
privilege is connected no less with the Christian's 
public'' usefulness than with his personal enjoyment. 
For who is he, that is most likely to win others to the 
love of the Saviour, and to the service of God -to 
enliven the drooping soul, or to recover the backslider? 
Is it not he, who lives most in the sun-shine of the 
Gospel and who therefore has most to tell of the sweet- 
ness of Christian experience ? Do you then ask— How 
shall I attain to this heavenly enjoyment? ' My heart, 
alas 1 is so cold and barren, my affections so languid, 
my desires so faint, my sky so often clouded. I do 
not forget that I am a child; but a child in disgrace is 
too often my dishonourable character and wretched 
condition.' Then exercise your faith in going where 
David was wont to go— As a penitent child, arise, 
and go to your lather "—^ ^ acknowledge your ini- 
'» i_tell your complaint before him— resort much 
and often to him ; be importunate; be patient ; plead 
the name 2 and merits of Jesus ; and you will not, you 
cannot, plead in vain ; you will once more regain the 
comfort of your assurance, and walk happily, holily, 
as well as confidently, in the light of your Father's 



1 Jer. iii. 13. 



2 John xiv. 13, 14. 



368 EXPOSITION OP PSALM CXIX. 

countenance Yet the further you advance in the 
enjoyment of the blessed ways of God, the more yo, 
will earn of your own ignorance, and of the darkness 
ot all mere human teaching. To the end, therefore 
your prayer ill be-^< Teack me thy statutes"^^ 
he that taught you this petition, will himself, accord- 
ing to his promise, be your teacher in the way of 
hohness;-"! will put my Spirit within you, ^and 
cause you to walk in my statutes; and ye shall keeo 
my judgments and do them."i And if, under hi^ 
teaching, in the pathway to glory-our God 
HIS Jace to slime upon his servant," what does he 
want more to beguile the toil and weariness of the 
way And If one beam of his countenance thouoh 
but aimly seen through this sinful medium-exceeds 
the glories of ten thousand worlds-what will it be to 
live under the perpetual cloudless ^'shining of his 
face!" Believer! does not this prospect iLLl^ 
every step of your journey ? Oh ! seek to realize 
he nearness of its approach ; ai.d with holy aspiration 
and joyful expectancy respond to fhe voice of your 
coming Lord~'< He ^ohich testifeth these tings 
scntlu-Surely I come quickly ; Amen. Even so, come 
Lord Jesus. 



136. Rh-ers of rcaters run down mine eyes, because 
they keep not thy law. 

The most cursory view of the life of Jesus exhibit* 
him as one, - whose heart was made of tenderness." 
r et there were some occasions, when the display of his 
compassion was peculiarly striking. At the closing 
period of his life, it is recorded, that " when he was 



^ Ezek. xxxvi. 27. 



Rev. xxii. 20. 



VERSE 136. 



369 



oome near and beheld the city" — ^'beautiful for 
situation, the joy of the whole earth but now 
given up to its own ways, and wrath coming upon 
it to the uttermost" — he could not refrain his tears — he 

wept o\^er it."^ it was then a moment of triumph. 
The air was rent with Hosannahs. The road was 
strewed with branches from the trees, and all was joy 
and praise. ^ Amid all this exultation, the Saviour 
alone seemed to have no voice for the triumph — no 
heart for joy. His large and comprehensive mind 
embraced the spiritual comfort of this sad case ; and 
he could only shew compassionate weeping in the midst 
of a solemn triumph. Rivers of waters ran down his 
eyes because they kept not his law.^^ 

jSTow a Christian in this as in every other feature of 
character will be conformed to the image of his Lord. 
His heart will therefore be touched with a tender con- 
cern for the honour of his God, and a pitying concern 
for those wretched sinners, that keep not his law/^ 
and are perishing in their own transgressions. Thus 
from the beginning — was ''just Lot in Sodom 
'' vexed -with the Jilthy conversation of the wicked. ^ ^ 
Thus did Moses, as he tells his faithless people, " fall 
down before the Lord, as at the first, forty days and 
forty nights ; "he did neither eat bread nor drink water, 
because of all their sins which they had sinned, in doing 
loickedly in the sight of the Lord to provoke him to 
anger, ^ Thus also Samuel, in the anticipation of 
the Lord's judgments upon Saul, " grieved himself 
and cried unto the Lord all night, ^ Ezra, on a similar 
occasion in the deepest prostration of sorrow, " rent 
his garment and his mantle, and plucked off the hair of 

^ Psalm xlviii. 2. - Lukexix.41. Comp. Matt, xxiii. 37. 
3 Compare Luke xix. 36—40. ^ 2 Peter ii. 7, 8, 

^ Deut. ix. 18, 19. ^ 1 Sam. xv. 11. 

R 5 



370 EXPOSITION OF PSALM CXIX. 

his head and of his beard, and sat down astonied until 
the evening sacrifice,'' i Jeremiah in the same spirit 
gives vent to his passionate vehemence of concern — 
Oh that my head were waters, and mine eyes a fountain 
of tears, that I might weep day and night for the slain 
of the daughter of my people ! " 2 Paul also had the 
witness of his conscience of " great heaviness and 
continued sorrow in his heart for his brethren, his 
kinsmen according to the flesh'' ^ In reproving trans- 
gressors, he could write to them in no other way than 
out of much affliction and anguish of heart, with many 
tears ; " 4 and in speaking of them to others, with the 
same tenderness of spirit, he adds— Of ivhom I tell 
you even weeping," 5 And, if David at this time was 
suffering "^frorn the oppression of man," yet his own 
injuries never drew from him such expressions of over- 
whelming sonow, as the sight of the awful violation 
of the law of his God. 

Thus uniformly is the character of God's people re- 
presented — not merely as those that diXe free from — but 
as " those that sigh and cry for— all the abominations 
that are done in the midst of the land," ^ And who 
does not see, what an enlarged sphere still presents 
itself on every side for the unrestrained exercise of 
Christian compassion ? The appalling spectacle of a 
world apostatized from God, of multitudes sporting 
with everlasting destruction— as if the God of heaven 
were " a man that he should lie'''?' is surely enoudi 
to force " rivers of waters " from the hearts of those 
that are concerned for his honour. ^^~hat a mass of 
sin ascends as a cloud before the Lord, from a sino:le 

1 Ezraix. 3, 4. 2 j^j. ^ Comp. xiii. 17 ; xiv. 17. 

^ Rom. ix. 1 — 3. ' -^2 001.11.4. 

'5 Phil. iii. 18. Compare Acts xx. 19. ^ Ezekiel ix. 4, 

Numbers xxiii. 19. 



VERSE 136. 



371 



heart! Add the aggregate of a village — a town— a 
country — a world ! every day — every hour— every 
moment— Well might the ''rivers of waters'^ rise to 
an overflowing tide, ready to burst its barriers. Could 
we witness a house on fire, without speedy and practical 
evidence of our compassion for the inhabitants ? And 
yet, alas ! how often do we witness souls on the brink 
of destruction— unconscious of danger or bidding de- 
fiance to it, — with comparative indifference ! How are 
we Christians, if we believe not the Scripture warnings 
of their danger ; or if, believing them, we do not bestir 
ourselves to their help ? What hypocrisy is it to pray 
for their conversion, while we are making no effort to 
promote it ! Oh ! let it be our daily supplication, 
that this indifference concerning their everlasting state 
might give place to a spirit of weeping, tenderness, 
and compassion; and that w^e might never see the 
sabbaths of God profaned, his laws trampled under 
foot, the ungodly world '' breaking their bands asun- 
der, and casting av/ay their cords from them,'^ ^ with- 
out a more determined resolution ourselves to keep 
these laws of our God, and to plead for their honour 
with these obstinate transgressors. Have we no near 
and dear relatives — yet lying in wickedness— dead 
in trespasses and sins ? " To what blessed family, 
reader, do you belong, where there are no such 
objects of pity? But be it so — It is well. Yet are 
you silent ? Have you no ungodly ignorant neigh- 
bours around you ? And are they unwarned as well 
as unconverted ? Do we visit them, connect ourselves 
in the way of courtesy or kindness, yet give them no 
word of aftectionate entreaty on the concerns of eter- 
nity. Let our families indeed possess, as they ought 



^ Psalm ii. 3. 



372 EXPOSITION OF PSALM CXIX. 

to possess, the first claim to our compassionate regard 
Then let our parishes, our neighbourhood, our country, 
the world, find a place in our affectionate, prayerful, 
and earnest consideration. 

Nor let it be supposed, that the doctrine of sovereign 
and effectual gTace has any tendency to paralyze exer- 
tion. So far from it, that the most powerful supports 
to Christian perseverance are derived from this source. 
The palpable and awful proofs meeting him on every 
side— of the " enmity of the carnal mind against 
God ''—of its rooted indisposition either to submit to 
his law or to embrace bis Gospel— threaten to sink 
the Christian labourer in despondency. And nothing 
sustains him in his exercised course, but the assurance 
of the power of God to remove the resisting medium, 
and of his purpose to accomplish the subjugation of 
natural corruption in a countless multitude of his 
redeemed people. 

This spirit of compassionate interest, that forms the 
life, the pulse, and the strength of Missionary exertion, 
and has ever distinguished those honoured servants of 
God, who have devoted their time, their health, their 
talents, their all, to the blessed work of saving souls 
from death, and covering a multitude of sins." i Can we 
conceive of a Misionary surrounded with thousands of 
mad idolaters, hearing their shouts, and witnessing their 
abominations, without rivers of waters running down 
his eyes ? '' 2 Indignant grief for the dishonour done 

^ James v. 20. 
" ' My God 1 I feel the mournful scene; 
My bowels yearn o'er dying men ! 
And fain my pity would reclaim, 
And snatch the fire-brands from the flame. 

But feeble my compassion proves, 
And can but weep were most it loves. 
Thine own all-saving arm employ, 
And turn these drops of grief to'joy*' 



VERSE 136. 373 

to God— amazement at this affecting spectacle of 
human blindness^detestation of human impiety — 
compassionate yearnings over human wretchedness 
and ruin— all combine to force tears of the deepest 
sorrow from an heart enlightened and constrained by 
the influence of a Saviour's love— We have seen that 
this was our Master's spirit. And can we feel our- 
selves to be Christians, if we are destitute of *'this 
mind that was in Christ Jesus 1'*^ if we know nothing 
of His melting compassion for a lost world, or of his 
burning zeal for his heavenly Father's glory ? 



1 See Phil. ii. 4--8. 



374 



EXPOSITION OF PSALM CXIX. 



PART XVIII, 



137. Righteous art thou, Lord, and upright are thi/ 
judgments. 138. Thy testimonies, that thou 
hast commanded, are righteous, and veru 
faithful. ^ 

As the believer advances in the knowledae of the 
Gospel, he is led to adoring contemplation of the 
awful perfections of his God ; he is able to justify 
his " ways," even when they " are in the sea and in the 
great waters," i and to acknowledge the righteousness 
of his character, his government, and his testimonies 
He IS now made to see, that, though "clouds and 
darkness are round about him," yet " riohteousne« 
and judgment are the habitation of his^ throne."-: 
This is the uniform acknowledgment of the Lord'< 
people, even while they " see but " as through a 
glass darkly," and "know" but "in part."_">he 
Lord is righteous in all his ways, and holv in all hi< 
works." 3 And the same acknowledgment will be 
made with perfect love and infinite humility, when 
m a world of unclouded day they shall " see face to 
face," and " know, even as also they are known " ^— 
" And they sing the song of 3Ioses, the servant of God 
and the song of the Lamb-Great and marvellous are 
thy works. Lord God Almighty ! J^,.st and true are 
thy ways, thou King of saints." ^ The unvaryin.. 
testimony of the Lord's people to the righteous 
character of his afflictive dispensations had before 



VERSES 137, 138. 375 

been embodied in the confession— ' ' I know, Lord, 
that thy judgments are right, and that thou in faithful- 
ness hast afflicted meJ'^ But testimonies to this 
unsullied and exalted character of God have been 
extorted even from his enemies. Haughty Pharaoh 
was constrained to bow— The Lord is righteous, and 
I and my people are wicked.'' - Adonibezek, under 
the blow of his hand/'— cried out—'' As I have 
done, so God hath requited me.''^ 

The young Cliiistian is however less able to connect 
these attributes of God with daily experience, and 
exercises himself for the most part in the more engag- 
ing perfections of his long-suffering, his goodness, or 
his love. It may be therefore often considered a satis- 
factory evidence of growth in grace, when our habitual 
contemplation of God fixes upon our minds the more 
deep and awful displays of his character, and we 
gather from thence an increase of light, and peace, 
humility and consolation. But it is the cross of 
Calvary, that harmonizes to our view the Divine at- 
tributes, at once the most appalling and the most 
encouraoino\ Thouch his ovrn declaration— that " he 
will by no means clear the guilty " 4— seemed to 
present an insurmountable barrier to the purpose 
of mercy; yet, rather than the glory of a God of love 
should be obscured, or his righteous law should be 
mitigated, ''he spared not his own Son 5— he made 
him, who knew no sin, to be sin for us." ^ 

And do not his "testimonies'' express a true and 
lively image of himself ? Do we not see that they 
"are righteous and very faithful" even as himself ? 
When they require perfect love to God and man,' 

1 Verse 75. . ^ Exod. ix. 27. ^ Judges i. 7. 

Exod. xxxiv. 7. ^ Rom, viii. 32. ^ 2 Cor. v. 21. 

^" Matt.xxii. 37—39. 



376 EXPOSITION OF PSALM CXIX. 

do they require more than our " reasonable service 
more than it is our duty and privilege to render him? 
When we have been blessed with a spiritual apprehen- 
sion of their nature— and are conformed and framed 
to them— who among us will hesitate in setting their 
seal to the inscription-' « The judgments of the Lord 
are true and righteous altogether. The law is holy, 
and the commandment holy, and just and good ? " i ' 
But let us take care to exhibit the practical influ- 
ence of our contemplations of the character and 
government of God. The unconverted-far from 
understanding or subscribing to their acknowledo-ment 
-complain-" The loays of the Lord are not Iqual. 
My punishment is greater than I can bear." 2 And so 
opposed ,are " the righteous judgments of God" to 
the perverseness of corrupt nature, that even with the 
child of God there is much murmurring within, that 
needs to be stilled— much repining to be hushed— 
much impatience to be repressed-many hard thoughts 
to be lamented, resisted, and banished. V^e are'too 
apt to forget, at these clouded seasons, how clearly our 
own experience illustrates this point—" to shew that 
the Lord is upright ; he is our rock, and there is no 
unnghteousness in him." 3 returning" then 

" and rest shall we be saved; in quietness and con- 
fidence shall be our strength."* In the submissive 
acknowledgment of the Lords dispensations "our 
peace " will flow " as a river; " 5 more deep and ex- 
tensive as it approaches the ocean, and fertilizing our 
souls with an abundant harvest of spiritual peace and 
enjoyment. 

1 Psalm xix, 9. Rom, vii. 12. Ezek, sviii. 25. Gen. iv. 13. 
Psalm xcii, 15. ^ Isaiah ss.^. 15. ^ Ibid, xlviii. 18. 



VERSE 139. 



377 



139. My zeal hath consumed me ; because mine enemies 
have forgotten thy words, 

David's high estimation of the testimonies of 
God naturally overwhelmed him with vehement sorrow 
to see them neglected and despised. He could bear 
that his enemies should forget him; but his 

zeaV^ could not endure that they should '^forget 
the words of his God,'' Zeal is a quality or passion 
of the human mind, whose real character must be 
determined by the objects on which it is employed, 
and the principle by which it is directed. There is a 
true and a false zeal — differing as widely from each 
other, as an heavenly flame from the infernal fire. The 
one is fervent disinterested affection, expanding the 
heart, and delighting to unite with the whole empire 
of God in the pursuit of a good, which all may enjoy 
without envious rivalry. The other is a selfish in- 
terested principle, contracting the heart, and ready to 
sacrifice the good of mankind, and even the glory of 
God, to its own individual advantage. Were the 
power of this latter principle proportioned to its native 
tendency^ — or were it to operate extensively in an as- 
sociated body ; it would end in detaching its several 
members each from their proper centre ; in disuniting 
them from each other ; and, as far as its influence 
could reach, crumbling the moral system into dis- 
cordant atoms. How much, alas ! of this baneful 
principle passes for zeal in the Church, which is 
exemplified chiefly in an obstinate opposition to 

the truth as it is in Jesus — arming itself with 
the weapons of open persecution, or for the milder 
warfare of reproach and calumny ! This wisdom 
descendeth not from above ; but is earthly, sensual, 



378 EXPOSITION OF PSALM CXIX. 

devilish/' 1 Hov\- much also of that misguided heat, 
that spends itself upon the externals of relioion^ or 
would ''call fire down from heaven" in defence of 
fundamental truths, may be found among us, exposing 
its blind devotees to our Master's tender rebuke— 
Ye know not what manner of spirit ye axe of! " - 
Often also do we see a distempered counterfeit zeal 
disproportioned in its exercise — wasting its strength 
upon the subordinate parts of the system, and compa- 
ratively feeble in its maintenance of the vital doctrines 
of Christ. Thus it disunites the Church by adherence 
to points of difference, instead of compacting the 
Church together by strengthening the more important 
points of agTeem^ent, Often again, by the same process 
in practical religion are the " mint, anise, and cummin" 
vehemently contended for ; while the weightier 
matters of the law " ^ are little regarded. 

Of a widely different character from this fervour 
of selfishness is that genuine Christian zeal, which has 
ever formed a distinouishing feature of the disciple 
of our Lord. Enlightened by the word of God, and 
quickened into operation by the love of Christ, it both 
shines and warms at the same moment. It is indeed 
the fire of heavenly love kindled into a flame, exciting 
in the heart the most tender desires and constant efforts 
for the best interests of every child of man, so far as 
its sphere can reach ; and bounded only by a consistent 
regard to the general welfare of the whole. Thus 
earnest and compassionate in its influence — awakened 
to a sense of the preciousness of immortal souls, and 
the overwhelming importance of eternity — it is never 
at a loss to discover an extended sphere for its most 
vehement and constraining exercises. While it hates 



James iii. 15. 



- Luke ix. 54, 55. 



3 Matt, xxiii. 23. 



VERSE 139. 379 

the sins that pass on every side before its view, it is all 
2:entleness to the sinner, and would gladly endeavour 
to weep tears of blood over those who are deaf to the 
voice of persuasion, if such tears could have any power 
to turn them from their iniquity. But, knowing all 
human unassisted efforts to be insufficient, it exhibits 
itself to the world in protesting against the abominations 
which it is too feeble to prevent ; and then hastens to 
the secret chamber to pour out its wrestling desires in 
the tenderness of our Maker's intercession — Father, 
forgive them, for they know not what they do." ^ 

Such was the zeal of the Ancient Lawgiver ; whose 
spirit (though as it regarded his own cause " meek 
above all the men ichich icere upon the face of the 
earth,'' ^) ''waxed hot'' ^ on witnessing the grievous 
dishonour done to his God during his absence on the 
mount. At the same time, (as if more clearly to 
distinguish the burning of Christian zeal from the 
natural heat of an unrenewed spirit) we mark his self- 
devotion for his people in secret pleading in their 
cause ; as he had manifested his boldness and concern 
for the honour of his God before the congTegation 
of the Lord.^ Surely he could have taken up this 
languao;e — My zeal hath consumed me, because mine 
enemies have forgotten thy words'' Burning with the 
same holy flame, we find the gTeat Old Testament 
Reformer bearins; his testimony against the universal 
prevalence of idolatry ; and making use of the arm 
of temporal power, ^ and of the yet greater power 
of secret complaint,^ to stem the torrent of iniquity. 
The same impulse in later times marked the conduct 
of the Apostles ; when, '' rending their clothes and 

1 Luke xxiii. 34. . ^ Numb. xii. 3- 

3 Exod. xxxii. 19. ' ^ Ibid. 30—32. 

^ 1 Kings xviii. 17—40. ^ Ibid. xix. 10. 



880 EXPOSITION OF PSALM CXIX. 

running in among a frantic multitude of idolaters, 
by all the power of their entreaties they ivere 
scarcely able to restrain the people, that they had not 
done sacrifice unto them.^^ i On another occasion the 
great Apostle forgetting the goodly stones and build- 
ings^' that met his eye at Athens — found his spirit 
stirred in him, when he saw the city wholly given to 
idolatry J' 2 

But, compassed as we are about with so great a 
cloud of witnesses ^ to the influence of this Christian 
principle, let us yet turn aside to look unto One 
greater than them all — to One, whose example in every 
temper of Christian conduct aflfords equal direction 
and encouragement. Jesus could testify to his Father 
by the ^nouth of the Psalmist — The zeal of thine 
house hath eaten me up,^'"^ He was ever ready to 
put aside even lawful engagements and obligations, 
when they interfered with this paramount demand — 

Wist ye not that I must he about my Father^ s 
business V ^ And if we really bear the stamp of a 
disciple of Jesus — while we shall bear to have our 

name cast out as evil '' ^ — and even rejoice that we 
are counted worthy 7 of this shame — we shall at the 
same time be tender of any reflection on the name of 
our God, as of our dearest friend and benefactor. We 
shall feel any slight of his honour as sensitively as a 
wound to our own reputation ; nor shall we hesitate to 
thrust ourselves between, to receive on ourselves any 
strokes that may be aimed at his cause. This combined 
spirit of self-denial and self-devotedness kindles the 
flame, which many waters cannot quench, neither can 
the floods drown.'' s ^ I could bear,^ said holy Brainerd, 

1 Acts xiv. 13—18. 2 jbid. xYii. 16. 3 Heb. xii, 1. 

^ Psalm Ixix. 9, with John ii. 17. Isaiah lix. 17. 
^ Luke ii. 49. ^ Ibid. vi. 22. Acts v. 41. ^ Can. yiij. 7. 



VERSE 139. 38i 

'any desertion or spiritual conflict; if I could hut 
have my heart hiirning all the while within me with 
love to God, and desires for his glory,' ^ It is indeed 
a delightful exercise, to spend and be spent" in the 
service of him, who for our sakes was even consumed 
by the fire of his own zeal— I have a baptism^'— 
said he, to be baptized ivith ; and how am I straitened 
till it be accomplished.'^ " 

However, the most satisfactory evidence of Christian 
zeal— is— when it begins at home— in a narrow scru- 
tiny, and vehement revenge " against the sins of our 
own hearts.3 Do we mourn over our own forget- 
fulness of God's ivords ? " Are we zealous to redeem 
the loss to our Saviour's cause from this sinful neglect ? 
And are we making it plain that our opposition to 
sin in the ungodly is the opposition of love ? And is 
this love manifested to the persons and souls of those, 
whose doctrines and practice we are constrained to 
resist— and in a carefulness to refrain from the use 
of unhallowed carnal weapons " in this spiritual 

warfare 

But the weak timid child of God may be sa^dng— 
^ I can do nothing for my God. I suffer his law to 
be forgotten, with little or no success in my endeavour 
to prevent it.' But do you not love his cause ? Is 
not his honour dear to you as your own ? Then take 
courage, and let your secret chambers witness to your 
zeal, and the Lord will not be unrighteous to forget 
your work and labour of love. " ^ He will even 
streng:then you for the conflict which you so much 
aread— the open confession of his cause— For he 
hath chosen the weak things of the icorld to confound 

1 Brainerd'G Diarv. Edward's Works, iii. 107. 
2 Luke xii. 50. ^ Compare 2 Cor. vii. 11. Rev. iii. 19. 
4 See 2 Cor. x. 4. James i. 20, ' Heb. vi. 10. 



382 EXPOSITION OF PSALM CXIX. 

the things that are mighty Or~should peculiar 
trials restrain the boldness of our profession, you may 
be found in the end to have made as effectual resist- 
ance to the progress of sin by your intercession before 
God, as those who have been enabled to manifest a 
more open front in the face of the world. 



140. Thy ivord is very pure ; therefore thy servant 

loveth it. 

The love which David here expresses for the law 
of his God, may account for the zeaP^ which he 
felt for that neglect of it, which he witnessed in the 
world. All other systems of religion, (or rather of 
philosophy falsely so called^') allure their disciples 
by the iAdulgence of carnal desires or self-complacent 
pride. The word of God outweighs them all in its 
chief excellency— peculiar to itself— its purity. It 
" is very pure—tried to the uttermost in the furnace 
—and found to be absolutely without dross ! 2 Its 
promises are without a shadow of change or unfaith- 
fulness. Its precepts reflect the holy image of their 
Divine Author. In a word, it contains ' truth with- 
out any mixture of error for its matter.' ^ <^ Therefore 
thy servant loveth it.^^ ^ No one but a true servant 
of God can therefore love it, because it is pure ; since 
he who loves it must desire to be like it, to feel its 
efficacy, to be reformed by it, and conformed to it.'* 
The scholar indeed admires its sublimity— but the 
surety which it reveals (such as the pride of the 
natural heart struggles to conceal) forbid him to love 
it. From the glass which shews his neglected obliga- 

^ 1 Cor. i. 27. 

- Prayer Book translation. Comp. Psalni xii. 6. 3 Locke. 
^ Bishop Horne in loco. 



VERSE 140. 383 
tions— his self-deluded state— and his appalling pros- 
pects, he turns away in disgust. So evident is it, that 
the indulgence of sin effectually precludes the benefit 
of the most industrious search into the word of God ! 
The heart must undergo an entire renewal— it must be 
sanctified and cleansed, yea, be baptized with the 
Holy Ghost,"! before it can discern, or— when it has 
discerned— can love, the purity of the word of God. 
Witness the ardent breathings of Brainerd's soul, as 
illustrative of this view of the blessed word—' that 
my soul were holy as he is holy ! that it were pure, 
even as Christ is pure ; and perfect, as my Father in 
heaven is perfect ! These I feel are the sweetest 
commands in God's hook, comprising all others.'^ ' 
how refreshing '—exclaims the beloved Martyn — 'and 
supporting to my soul ivas the holiness of the word of 
God I Sweeter than the sweetest promise at this time, 
was the constant and manifest tendency of the ivord 
to lead men to holiness and the deepest seriousness' ^ 
—This property of the word of God is connected 
with the nourishment afforded by it : As the support 
of milk to the new-born babe," it is to be daily 
desired, that we may grow thereby " 4— grow in 
purity of heart and conduct ; learning to shrink from 
the touch of sin; and cleansing ourselves from all 
filthiness of flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the 
fear of God. " ^ Our appetite for this word—* ' esteeming 
it more than our necessary /ootZ"^— will be in pro- 
portion to our growth in grace, and an evidence of this 
growth, and a constant spring of holy enjoyment. 

An additional excitement to love the purity of the 
book of God is the exhibition of that purity embodied 



1 Matt. iii. 11. ^ Edward's Works, iii. 171. 

3 Martyn's Life, pp. 206, 207. ^ 1 Peter ii. 2. 
^ 2 Cor. vii. 1. ^ Job xxiii. 12. 



384 EXPOSITION OF PSALM CXIX. 

and illustrated in our perfect pattern— even in Him, 
" who was holy, harmless, undefiled, and separate from 
sinners,''^ For the habit of beholding the Saviour 
with the eye of faith in the glass of the word conforms 
the heart to his image. 2 But be it ever remembered, 
that the holiness of the word can have no fellowship,' 
and communicate no life, except in its own atmosphere! 
Oh ! for a larger influence of the Spirit of God upon 
our souls, that we may enjoy the purifying delights 
of the word of God ; that we may live in it~live°by 
it— to the glory of our dear Redeemer's name, and to 
the edification of his Church ! 

141. I am small and despised; yet do not I forget thy 

precepts. 

" Small and desjnsed " was the character of 
David's condition, when the Lord first looked on 
him.3 It was his own estimate of himself in the height 
of his glory. It was also the reproach, which he often 
endured for the name of his God. Yet did he not 
forget his precepts ! " The remembrance of his God 
was both present and precious to him in his lowly 
station ; * and was his stay and support in all the trials 
of his prosperity. The object of the Lord's sovereign 
choice 5 whom he has stamped as a peculiar treasure 
unto him above all people," and whom at the day of 
his appearing he will bring forth as the ^'jewels 
of his crown— are either in their worldly condition 7 in 
the eyes of the world,^ or in their own estimation 9 
— small and despised I " Nor are they backward to 

\ Heb, vii. 26. 2 coj^p^ 2 Cor. iii. 18. 

^ 1 Sam. XVI. 11. 4 Ibid. xvii. 34—36. ^ E^od. xix. 5. 
6 Mai. iii. 17. 7 1 Cor. i. 27-29. James ii. 5. 

1 Cor. IV. 3—13. 9 Psalm xl. 17. 1 Cor. xv. 9. Eph. iii. 8. 



VERSE 141. 



385 



appropriate to themselves this character, and to accept 
the portion entailed upon it. But what garb will not 
the natural pride and hypocrisy of the heart assume 
in order to gain its end ? Even this language of 
humility— which, when used in sincerity, is exclusively 
the result of divine teaching— is not unfrequently in 
the mouth of the professor, to enable him to maintain 
"Si name to live" in the Church of God. But will 
those who call themselves ''small and despised'' be 
willing to be taken at their word ? Are they content 
to be despised by those, whose esteem this " volun- 
tary" spurious ''humility" was meant to secure? 
When they 'Hake the lowest place," do they feel it 
to be their own place? Or does not the language 
of self-abasement sometimes mean in the eyes of God 
— ' Come, see how humble 1 am ? ' ^ 

Christian ! think not these self-inquiries unnecessary 
for the cautious scrutiny of thine own heart. A 
self- annihilating spirit before men, as well as before 
God — to feel'' small and despised'' when we have a 
reputable name in the Church— is a rare attainment — 
a glorious triumph of victorious grace— usually the 

1 * Many hypocrites make great pretences to humility as well as 
other graces. But they cannot find out what a humble speech and 
behaviour is, or how to speak and act, so that there may be indeed 
a savour of Christian humility in wiiat they say or do. That sweet 
humble *air and mien is beyond their art, being not "led by the 
Spirit," or naturally guided to a behaviour becoming holy humility 
by the vigour of a lowly spirit within them. And therefore they 
have no other way, but to be much in declaring that they are hum- 
ble, and teUing how they were humbled to the dust at such and such 
times, and abounding in very bad expressions about themselves — 
such as — ' I have a dreadful wicked heart.' — ' Oh ! this cursed 
heart of mine,' &c. Such expressions are very often used — not 
with a heart broken — not with the tears of her that washed 
Jesus's feet with her tears " — not as ''remembering, and being 
confounded, and never opening their mouth because of their shame 
when God is pacified" — (Ezek. xvi. 63.) but with a light air, or 
with Pharisaical affectation.' Edwards on Affections, Part III. 
Section vi. 

S 



386 EXPOSITION OF PSALM CXIX. 

fruit of a sharp affliction. This was the spirit of 
Brainerd— that meek and lowly disciple of his Master 
— who would express his astonishment, that any one 
above the rank of " the beasts that perish could 
condescend to notice him.i Oh ! if we shrink 
from being counted "small and despised,'' think of 
Him ''in the form of God taking upon Him the 
form of a servant'^ ^— the " Lord of all" becoming " the 
servant of all ^ — jjim who was ministered to with 
the unceasing adoration of the heavenly world, minis- 
tering to the comforts, necessities —yea, even to the 
lowest services of worms of the earth. ^ Shall we 
exhibit to the world the strange contradiction of a 
proud disciple — of a ''meek and lowly " Master?— 
Or again— can we complain, if we are accounted 
''small and despised?'' Oh! let us think again 
of "him whom man despise th— of him whom the 
nation abhoiTeth 5— let us think of the "cross which 
he endured, and of the shame which he despised ''o 
for us ; and with such a pattern before our eyes— such 
a motive touching our hearts— must we not be ashamed 
of our reluctance to " bear his reproach ; " 

Christian ! dost thou love to be low, and still desire 
to be lower than ever ? " Small and despised" as thou 
art in thine o^vn eyes, and in the eyes of the world, 
'• thou art precious in the eyes of him,'' who gave 

^ ' God feeds me with crumbs. Blessed be his name for any- 
thing.— I felt a great desire that all God's people should know how 
mean, and little, and vile I am, that they might see I am nothing, 
that so they might pray for me aright, and not have the least de- 
pendence upon me. — I could not bear to think of Christians shew- 
ing me any respect. I saw myself exceedingly vile and unworthy; 
so that I was ashamed that any one should bestow any favour 
upon me, or show^ me any respect.' — Brainerd's Diary. 

2 Phil. ii. 6, 7. - Acts x. 36, with Mark x. 44, 45. 

. _ 4 Rev. V. 8—13, with John xiii, 3—5. 

^ Isa. xlix. 7. Compare Psalm xxii. 6. ^ Heb. xii. 2. 



VERSE 142. 



387 



a price for thy ransom " — infinitely more precious 
than Egypt, Ethiopia, and Seba," i and who will 
suffer *^none to pluck thee out of his hands." ^ Many 
may rebuke thee ; many may scorn thee ; even thy 
brethren may treat thee with contempt ; yet thy God, 
thy Redeemer, will not depart from thee, will not 
suffer thee to depart from him, but " will put his 
spirit within thee, and bring forth his precepts to 
thy remembrance, that thou may est keep them, and 
many a sweet supporting promise for thy consolation. 
Therefore Fear not, thou worm Jacob ; I will help 
thee, saith the Lord, and thy Redeemer, the Holy 
One of Israel." ^ 

142. Thy righteousness is an everlasting righteousness, 
and thy law is the truth. 

The Psalmist was in no danger, in the midst of his 
trials, of forgetting the precepts of his God/' while 
he maintained so just a perception of the exalted 
character of their Author. Indeed at this time his 
mind seems to have been filled with the contempla- 
tion of the righteous government of God. He there- 
fore repeats his act of adoration,^ not as applied to 
any particular instance of his dispensations, but as 
distinguishing the general character of his adminis- 
tration from ^' everlasting." 

But on whom is this government " appointed to 
rest ? Think of our Immanuel — the human brow 
encircled with Divine glory — the crucified hands 
wielding the sceptre of 'the universe — Him, whom 
they mocked as the King of the Jews, seated on his 
own exalted throne—'' King of kings, and Lord of 

1 Compare Isaiah xliii. 3, 4, with Acts xx. 28. 
2 John X. 28. 3' isa, xli. 14. " ^ Comp. Verse 137. 

S 2 



888 EXPOSITION OF PSALM CXIX. 

lords!" The government is upon his shoulders;'' 
and of the increase of his government and peace there 
shall he no endJ'^ How delightful to join Jehovah 
himself in the ascription of praise—^* Thy throne, 
God, is for ever and ever : a sceptre of righteous- 
7iess is the sceptre of thy kingdom ! " 2 

Every ordinance of man is connected only with 
time. Tlie Divine government has a constant reference 
to the eternity that is past and to that which is to 
come. " And I Aear<f said the enraptured disciple 
— " the angel of the ivaters say ; Thou art mghteous, 
which art, and icast, and shalt be, because thou hast 
judged thus:' ^ Every instance therefore of his righte- 
ous administration is a part of that ''everlasting" 
display of the Divine character, which constrains the 
adoration' of the heavenly intelligences. One cried 
to another, and said, Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord 
of hosts : the ichole earth is full of his glory:' ^ Jjis 
law "—the manifestation of his ''righteousness" — 
" is the truth." Thy word is true from the beginning, 
and every one of thy Hght ecus judgments endureth for 
ever:'^ 

It was this " truth," that Jesus came into the 
world to " fulfil all righteousness." ^ It was to this 
truth that he came to bear witness. " To this end'' — 
replied he to his judge — " was I born, and for this 
cause came I into the world, that I might bear witness 
unto the truth:'' It is this truth, that he employs 
as the means of sanctification to his people — Sanc- 
tify them " — said he in his commendatory prayer — 
" through thy truth : thy icord is truth:' 8 And indeed 
how does the whole revelation bear the impress of a 

' Isaiah ix. 6, 7. 2 ps^im xlv. 6, with Heb. i. 8, 

2 Rev. xvi. 5. 4 Isaiah vi. 3. ^ Verse 160. 

^ Matt. iii. 15. ' Johnxviii. 37. s 151^. xvii. 17. 



VERSE 143. 



389 



God that cannot lie of a covenant ordered in 
all things'' beyond human contrivance, ''and sure" 
beyond the possibility of a change ! ^ How many 
dying testimonies have sealed the truth of the pre- 
cious promises. Joshua, ^ Simeon, ^ and a cloud of 
witnesses with which we are compassed/' ^ have set 
to their seals that God is true " 5— that " all the pro- 
mises of God are in Christ Jesus yea and amen."^ — 
that *' all are come to pass unto them, and not one 
thing hath failed thereof." Equally manifest is the 
truth of his threatenings. Hell is truth seen too late. 
Those on the right hand, and those on the left, at the 
great day of God will combine to give testimony to the 
declaration of the Faithful and True Witness," 7 — 
''Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words 
shall not pass away." ^ 

143, Trouble and anguish have taken hold on me ; yet 
thy commandments are my delights* 

Christian ! expect not unmixed sorrow or unin- 
terrupted joy as your present portion. Heaven will 
be joy without sorrow. Hell will be sorrow without 
joy. Earth presents to you every joy mingled with 
grief— every grief tempered with joy. To be account- 
ed " sinall and despised^' does not comprize the whole 
of your trials. Like the great Apostle, you must 
expect not only " trouble without, but ''anguish'^ 
within — '^ Without were fightings; within were fears, 
We were pressed^^ — said he—" out of measure, above 
strength, insomuch that we despaired even of life,^'' 9 

1 Titus i. 2. 2 Sam. xxiii. 5. ^ Joshua xxiii. 14. 

2 Luke ii. 25—29. ^ Heb. xii. 1. ^ John iii. 33. 

s 2 Cor. i.20. ' Rev. iii. 14. ^ ^i^tt. xxiv. 35. 

^ 2 Cor. vii. 5 j i. 8. 

S 3 



EXPOSITION OF PSALM CXIX. 

But if troubled on every side,''^ does not mercy " 
also encompass you about ? What power is there 
in the word of God to sustain the desponding soul ! 
What cheering prospects of hope and deliverance does 
it set forth ! What mighty supports in the endurance 
of trial does it realize ! So that even when " trouble 
and anguish have taken hold on us'' we are still enabled 
to testify— thy commandments are our delights J' 

In this view the scriptural records of the trials of 
the Lord's people are peculiarly interesting; as also 
is every fresh testimony of those who have suffered for 
the cause of Christ, or who have in other ways been 
partakers of his sufferings/' 3 These valuable records 
bear abundant testimony to the inexhaustible resources 
of support in the book of God. Thus we learn to set 
a higher value upon the word of God, when we see 
that whatsoever things were written aforetime were 
written for our learning, that we through patience and 
comfort of the Scriptures might have hope/'^ 

But, as we have before observed, we must make the 
commandments our delights''— \i we would realize their 
supports. The self-will of the natural heart, and the 
spirit of bondage, have no fellowship with these de- 
lights.'' It is the child of God, whose thoughts are 
habitually occupied in the word, that finds it to be his 
food and light, and joy and strength ; or even if little 
of its sensible comfort is experienced, there will be a 
witness within of the presence and power of God. 

It is easy to speak of its " delights " in prosperity. 
But it is affliction that puts honour upon the word of 
God. It is not as if the child of God was without 
feeling. " Trouble and anguish " are painful sensa- 
tions of the flesh ; but however painful they may be, 

1 2 Cor. iv. 8. 2 p^^x^ xxxii. iO. 

2 1 Peter iv. 13. 4 ^q^^^ xv, 4. 



VERSE 143. 



391 



the " delights'' of the word of God sustam and over- 
balance them. The bitterness of the cross best realizes 
the sweetness of the promises. Who has not found 
that in sanctified afflictions the word of God is most 
happily enjoyed? Specially does the believer '^rejoice 
in tribulation/' when it is for the Lord's sake ; when 
the " trouble and anguish which take hold of him" 
is for the love he bears to his dear name ! i Persecution 
for his sake, far from appalling him, only endears his 
service to his heart. It is in his eyes— ?io^ a penalty 
endured, hut a privilege conferred—" to suffer for his 
name's sake'' ^ 

But contrast the condition of the child of God and 
the follower of the world in the hour of affliction. 
The one in the midst of his troubles drinks of the 
fountain of all-sufficiency ; and such is his peace and 
securitv, that " in the floods of great waters they shall 
not come nigh unto him." ^ The other, " in the fulness 
of his sufficiency is in straits."'^ David could look 
upward, and find the way of escape in the midst of his 
trouble; but for Saul, when " trouble and anguish 
took hold of him," no source of comfort opened to his 
view. ''God was departed;" '-'God was afar off, 
and was become his enemy. " ^ It was therefore 
trouble" without support; "anguish" without re- 

1 Acts V. 41. 

2 Phil. i. 29. One of the witnesses for the truth, when impri- 
soned for conscience' sake in Queen Mary's persecution of the 
Church, is said to have thus written to a friend, ' A prisoner for 
Christ ! What is this for a poor worm ? " Such honour have " 
not " all his saints." Both the degrees which I took in the Uni- 
versity have not set me so high as the honour of becoming a 
prisoner of the Lord.' Philpot again could say of his prison—- 
* In the judgment of the world we are in hell; but I find in it 
the sweet consolations of heaven.'— So also holy Bradford— ' My 
prison is sweeter to me than any parlour, than any pleasure I have 
had in all my life.' 

2 psalmxsxii.6. ^Jobxx.22. ^ 1 Sam. xxvni. 15, 16. 



392 EXPOSITION OF PSALM CXIX. 

lief-" trouble and anguish;' such as will at len<xth 
" take hold of" them that forgot God, when nothing 
will be left, but the unavailing '< cry to the mounteins 
and the hills to fall upon them and cover them."i 
Thanks be to God for deliverance from this fearful 
prospect ! Thanks for the hope of unfading " delights " 
when earthly pleasures shall have passed away ! The 
first sheaf of the heavenly harvest will blot out the 
painful remembrance of the weeping seed-time which 
preceded it.^ The first moments of heavenly enjoy- 
ment will compensate for all the " troubles and 
anguish" of earth. And these moments will last 
throughout eternity. " Say ye to the righteous, it 
shall be ivell with him." i~ eternally luell. 

144. The righteousness of thy testimonies is everlasting ; 
give me understanding, and I shall live. 

The Psalmist again* marks " the righteousness of 
the testimonies" as conformable with the character 
and government of God. And this righteousness-as 
a part of the Divine administration— he justly acknow- 
ledges to be " everlasting-not subject to the inces- 
sant variations of the human standard of equity but 
" for ever settled in heaven." 5 What solemn weight 
and authority is due to the dictates of this Divine 
standard! Tt seems indeed to be trampled under 
foot, as if unrighteousness was now directino- the 
government of the world ; but its " righteousness " 
inflexible in its demands, and unalterable in its obli- 
gations-will ere long assert its sovereignty over the 
world, when every other standard shall have passed 
away. It will be the rule of the Divine procedure 

' ' P'^'" 5. 6. 3 Isaiah iii. 10. 

Compare Verses 137, 138. 5 Verse 89. 



VERSE 144. 393 

at the great day of decision. When the great white 
throne" is set up— when " the dead, small and great, 
stand before God— and the books are opened, and 
another book is opened, which is the book of life — and 
the dead are judged out of those things, which were 
written in the books, according to their works'^ ^ — 
the acknowledgment will be made throughout the 
universe of God—*' The righteousness of thy testi- 
monies is everlasting,^' 

But this view of their Divine " righteousness," and 
their everlasting obligation, naturally suggests the 
prayer for a more spiritual, enlightened, and expe- 
rimental acquaintance with them. One ray of this 
understanding" is of far higher value than all the 
intellectual or speculative knowledge in the world. 
The first dawn of it exhibits the infinite difference 
between light and darkness. The prayer for it im- 
plies a measure of it already received ; and expresses 
the heart's desire for a larger increase—'' Give me 
understanding, ' Let me know the holiness of the 
testimonies— their extent— their perfection— their inti- 
mate connexion with every part of my daily walk — 
with the restraint of my inclination, the regulation 
of my temper, the direction of every step of my path.' 
And indeed the more devoutly we study them, the 
more shall we feel our need of supplication for Divine 
teaching ; while, as the effect of this teaching, our 
views of the government of God will be more adoring 
and thankful, and our disposition to find fault with 
what is professedly beyond the reach of our compre- 
hension, will be subjugated to the humbling influence 
of faith. 

The principle of spiritual and eternal life flows from 



1 Rev. XX. 11, 12. 
S 5 



394 EXPOSITION OF PSALM CXIX. 

the enlightened perception of the testimonies of God. 
" Give 77ie understanding, and I shall live,'' Por 
this is life eternal, that we might know thee the 
only true God and Jesus Christ whom thou hast sent i 
His testimonies are the revelation of himself. If then 
we have an unction from the Holy One, and know 
all things/' 2 o^r knowledge of them will become more 
spiritual in its character, more experimental in its 
comforts, and more practical in its fruits. And thus, 
" the life of God in the soul" will invigorate us for 
higher attainments in evangelical knowledge, and more 
steady advancement in Christian holiness. We see the 
Lord's people forgetting those things which are be- 
hind, and reaching forth unto those things which are 
before. .Let us therefore, as many as be perfect, be 
thus minded ; and if in any thing ye be otherwise 
minded, God shall reveal even this unto you." ^ 



^ John xvii. 3. 2 ^ John n. 20. 

' Phil.iii. 13, 15. 



VERSES 145, 146. 



395 



PART XIX. 

145. / cried with my whole heart ; hear me^ O Lord ; 
I will keep thy statutes, — 1 46. / cried unto thee ; 
save me^ and I shall keep thy testimonies. 

Here is presented to us the pouring out of the 
soul before the Lord" ^ — a beautiful and encouraging 
picture of a soul wrestling with God in a few short 
sentences, with as much power and success as in the 
most continued length of supplication ! Brief as are 
the petitions, the whole compass of language could 
not make them more comprehensive. Hear me,'' 
The soul is in earnest — the ivhole heart is engaged in 
the cry." " Save me " — includes a sinner's whole need 
— pardon — acceptance — access — holiness — strength — 
comfort— heaven, — all in one word — Christ. The way 
of access is not indeed mentioned in these short ejacu- 
lations. But it is always implied in every moment's 
approach and address to the throne of grace. Hear 
me " in the name of my all-prevailing Advocate. 
" Save me^' through him, whose name is Jesus the 
Saviour. A moment's interruption of our view of 
Jesus casts for the tiyne an impenetrable cloud over 
our way to God, and paralyses the spirit of prayer. 
Prayer is not only the sense of guilt, and the cry for 
mercy, but the exercise of faith. And those only are 
the words of real prayer, that are the utterance of 
simple faith. This is the cry of a prince that has 
power with God, and prevails." ^ The sinner feels his 



1 I Sam.i. 15. 



^ Gen. xxxii. 28. 



396 EXPOSITION OF PSALM CXIX. 



warrant to direct his prayer, and to look up.'' i As 
the cripple at the beautiful gate of the temple"— 
so is he therefore found watching daily at the 
gates "2 of his God, expecting to receive something 
of him." 3 jjg jg always wanting— always asking — 
living upon what he has, but still hungering for more. 
Not a word of prayer is lost. It is as seed—not cast 
into the earth-^exposed to hazard and loss 4— but cast 
into the bosom of God— and here— as in the natural 
harvest—'^ he that soweth bountifully shall reap also 
bountifully:'^ The most frequent comers are the 
largest receivers. 

With many however, the ceremony of prayer is 
every thing, without any thought, desire, anxiety, or 
waiting fdr an answer. Many too, who in days past 
never missed the presence of God in prayer, but 
they sought it carefully with tears"— are now too 
easily satisfied with the act of prayer without this 
" great object of li—the enjoyment of GodJ' ^ Now 
here, believer, you are directed to the recovery and 
more sure preservation of your lost privilege. You 
lament your deficiencies, your inability in the hour 
of temptation, your indulgence of ease, your un- 
faithfulness of heart. But oh ! let your cry'' be 

1 Psalm V. 3. 2 p^.^^^ ^jji^ 34 3 ^^^^ .^^ 

^ Matt. xiii. 3—7. ^ 2 Cor. ix. 6. 

^ The great object in prayer should cmistantly be the enjoyment 
of God; and however inadequate the believer's conceptions may be, 
yet he has a distinct idea of his object ; so distinct, that you can 
never impose upon a real saint by offering him something else in 
the room of it. He knows what he wants; and he knows 
that this or that is not the thing which he wants.' Aueustin 
Epistle 121. 

In the same Epistle he very judiciously recommends the use 
of short and quick ejaculations, (like these under consideration,) 
rather than long protracted supplications, unless the mind be in a 
fervant frame ; in which case the petitions, as he justly conceives, 
may be indefinitely prolonged, without incurring the censure 
implied in Matthew vi. 7. 



VERSES 145, 146. 397 

continually ascending ''with your whole heart Your 
soul would not be so empty of comfort, if your 
mouth were not so empty of prayer. The Lord never 
charges presumption upon the frequency or extent 
of your supplications ; but he is often ready to 
''upbraid you with your unbelief ^ that you are so 
reluctant in your approach, and so straitened in your 
desires— that you are so unready to receive what he 
is so ready to give— that your vessels are too narrow 
to take in his full blessing— that you are content with 
drops when he has promised " floods, "—yea " rivers 
of living water," 2 — and above all, that you are so 
negligent in praising him for what you have already 
received. 

It is this spirit of continued instancy in prayer, ^ 
that preserves the child of God in temptation. Satan 
strikes at all of God in his soul. Unbelief readily 
yields to his suggestions. This is the element in which 
he lives— the ceaseless warfare in which he is engaged. 
Will then the customary devotion of morning and 
evening (even supposing it to be sincere) suffice for 
such an emergency ? No. The Christian must "put 
on the whole armour of God ; " and buckle on his 
panoply with increasing prayer and watchfulness in 
the influence of the Spirit.* If he be backward in 
prayer, let him not give way to indolence. If his 
heart be dead and cold, let him rather cry and wait 
(as Luther was used to do), till it be warmed and 
enlivened. The hypocrite indeed would be satisfied 

1 Mark xvi. 14. Isaiah xliv. 3. John vii. 38. 

3 Rom. xii. 12. 

^ Ephes. vi. 13 — 18. ' The violence of temptation stupilies 
me/— said Luther on one occasion, speaking of his own ex- 
perience, — that I cannot open my mouth. As soon as ever it 
pleases God that I can^ lift up my heart in prayer, and make 
use of SaHptural expressions, it ceases to prevail.' — Miiner, Vol. V. 
p. 484. 



398 EXPOSITION OF PSALM CXIX. 

with the barren performance of the duty. But the 
child of God— while he mourns in the dust— ^' Behold, 
I am vile ! " i-still holds on -though sometimes with 
a cry that probably finds no utterance with his lips 2 
— that vents itself only with tears, or groanings 
that cannot be uttered/' 3 ^^^n ^^^^i a cry fail 

to enter into the ears of the Lord of Sabaoth V 
Impossible ! - The Lord hath heard the voice of my 
weeping. Lord, all my desire is before thee, and 7ny 
groaning is not hid from thee.''"^ 

But why is the believer so earnest for an audience ? 
—why so restless in his cries for salvation ? Is it 
not, that he loves the statutes " of his God ; that he 
is grieved on account of his inability to keep them ; 
and that' he longs for grace and strength ever to be 
found in them ? - Hear me ; I will keep thy statutes. 
Save me , and I shall keep thy testimonies ''—a most 
satisfactory evidence of a heart upright with God. 

Lord ! thou knowest how hard we find it to bring 
our hearts really to the work of prayer ; and how we 
nourish our unbelief by our distance from thee.— O 
pour upon us this - Spirit of grace and supplication.^' 
" Teach us to pray"5-.even our hearts—- our whole 
hearts'' -to " cry unto thee.'' Then shall we - run 
the way of thy commandments, when thou shalt enlarge 
our hearts."^ 

^ ^ Job xl. 4, also xlii. 5, 6. 

- Exod. xiv 15. 1 Sam. i. 13. Neh. ii. 4. 3 Rom. viii. 26. 

Psalm VI. 8 , xxxviii. y. s Luke xi. 2. 6 Verse 32 



VERSES 147, 148. 



399 



147. I prevented the daivning of the morning, and 
cried; I hoped in thy tt-orc?.— 148. Mine eyes 
prevent the night-watches, that I might meditate 
in thy word. 

The Psalmist here brings before us not only the 
fervency, but the seasons, of his supplication. Like 
Daniel, he had his set times of prayer— three times 
a day." ^ Nor did this frequency of seeking the Lord 
satisfy him, without an habitual " waiting all the day 
upon his God." 2 Prayer was indeed his meat, and 
drink, and breath. ^' I give myself unto prayer J' ^ His 
sketch of the character of the " blessed man, delight- 
ing in the law of his God, and "—as an evidence of 
this delight— meditating therein day and night "4— 
furnished an accurate but unconscious picture of him- 
self. For early and late was he found in the enjoyment 
of the privileges of the word of God; "preventing 
the dawning of the inorning " for prayer, and again 
the night watches, that he might meditate in the 
word:' But to look above the example of David to 
David's Lord ; surely " it was written " most pecu- 
liarly ^'for our learning," that Jesus— after a laborious 
Sabbath — every moment of which appears to have 
been spent in the service of sinners, and when his 
body, subject to the same infirmities, and therefore 
needing the same refreshment with our own, seemed 
to require repose—'' in the morning, rising up a great 
while before day, went out and departed into a solitary 

1 Psalm Iv. 17, with Dan. vi. 10. ^ Psalm xxv. 5. 

3 Ibid. cix. 4. 'But I prayer,' Heb.— all over prayer— always 
ready for prayer— at all seasons, besides the frequency of set times 
of communion— one, whose life is a. continued prayer— prayer 
without ceasing."— 1 Thess. v. 17. 

•1 Psalm i. 2. 



400 EXPOSITION OF PSALM CXIX. 

place and there prayed,''^ On auother occasion did 
his eyes prevent the night-icatches'' when intensely 
engaged in the service of his Father and of his Church. 
For when by the ordination of his Apostles he was 
about to lay the foundation of his Church, it is told 
of him, that ''he went out into a mountain to pray, 
and continued all night in prayer to God,'' ^ 

These examples make it evident, that when the 
heart is really occupied for God, time will always be 
found for secret duties ; ^ and rather will be redeemed, 
as with David, from sleep, than lost from prayer! 
To see a man, like the King of Israel, engaged in the 
most active employments of life; yet sanctify in " 
such frequent seasons in the short period of%a^ch 
successive day with the word of God and prayer,'^ 
exposes the insincerity of the excuse, that no time can 
be spared from the pressing avocations of the day for 
the service of God. It is not, that such men are 
busy, and have no time for prayer ; but that they are 
worldly, and have no heart to pray. 

This subject illustrates (and the uniform experience 
of the Lord's people warrants the remark)— how much 
our spirituality of desire and enjoyment depends upon 
the daily consecration of the first-fruits of our time 
to the Lord. With many of us, opportunities for 

1 Mark i. 21—35. - Luke vi. 12—16. 

Most instructive is the example of Mr. Cadogan, as recorded 
by his admirable Biographer. ' Feelins strongly, that he must 
walk with God in secret at any rate; when he had company, he 
would often retire from them into his studv, rather than omit his 
accustomed waiting upon his God. Often has he been found 
there, when most of the family were gone to rest, surprised on 
his knees by the domestic, who usually took care of the hou^e 
Cecil's Life of Cadogan. 

Perhaps in an obseiwation once made to an excellent minister, 
the importance of the truth may furnish an apology for the quaint- 
ness of the dress— 'If you did not plough in your closet, you 
would not reap in the pulpit.' 



VERSES 147, 148. 401 

heavenly communion during the day may be unavoid- 
ably straitened. But the night-watches'' and the 
dawning of the morning'' afFord seasons free from 
nterruption, when our God expects to hear from us, 
and when the refreshment of our visits to him, and his 
abidance with us, will often constrain us to acknow- 
ledge — Truly our fellowship is with the Father, and 
with his Son Jesus Christ,"^ The thoughts of God 
were clearly the first visitors to David's waking mind ; - 
and to this may be ascribed in a great measure his 
habitual success in realizing the presence of God 
throuohout the day. For our lukewarmness, and our 
want of spiritual enjoyment may often be traced to 
that morning indolence, which not only throws the 
business of the dav into confusion, but also consumes 
the time in self-indulgence or trifling, which should 
have been redeemed for this sacred privilege of inter- 
course with God. For— not to speak of the season- 
ableness of the early hours for devotion— the very 
exertion made to overcome ''this lust of the flesh,'' 
and to steal a march upon the demands of the world, 
is an exercise of self-denial, and an opportunity of 
honouring God, that shall in no wise lose its reward," 
Xo remembrance of the past will be so refreshing at 
a dying hour as the time that is spent for God. 

And even, if there should not be actual enjoyment, 
at least let us honour God by the spirit of expectancy 

I hoped in thy word ! " ^— There can be no exercise 

1 John i. 3. - See Psalm cxxxix. 17. 18. 

3 One of Melancthon's correspondents describes Luther thus — 
* I cannot enough admire the extraordinary cheerfulness, constancy, 
faith, and hope of the man in these trying and vexatious times. He 
constantly feeds these gracious affections by a very diligent study 
of the word of God. Then not a day passes in which he does not 
employ in prayer at least three of his very best hours. Once I hap- 
pened to hear him at prayer. Gracious God ! what spirit and what 
faith is there in his expressions 1 He petitions God with as much 



402 



EXPOSITION OF PSALM CXIX. 



of faith in the neglect of prayer ; but the ground of 
faith, and that which gives to it life, hope, and joy — 
is the view of God in his word as as a 'promising God. 
Therefore to hope in his word is to build up our- 
selves upon our most holy faith," i and to lay all 
our desires, all our cares, all our weights and burdens, 
upon the solid unsinking foundation of the word of 
promise, not one jot or tittle of which has ever fallen 
to the ground. 

David's ''night-watches" were well employed in 
'' meditation in the icord.''^ For, in order to stay our- 
selves upon it in time of need, it must occupy our 
whole study, thought and love. Instability of faith 
arises from a want of fixed recollection of the promises 
of God., This superficial habit may suffice for times 
of quietness— but amid the billows of temptation we 
can only cast anchor sure and steadfast" in an ha- 
bitual and intelligent confidence upon the full, free, 
firm promise of the word. Let it therefore be the food 
of our meditation, and the ground of our support, 
when our suit seems to hang at the throne of giace 
without any tokens of present acceptance or conso- 
lation ! Often, when cast down by the sense of our 

reverence, as if he vras in the Divine presence ; and yet with as 
firm a hope and confidence, as he would address a father or a 
friend. ' I know ' — said he — ' thou art our Father and our God ; 
and therefore I am sure thou wilt bring to nought the persecutors 
of, thy children. For shouidest thou fail to do this, thine own 
cause, being connected with ours, vvould be endangered. It is 
entirely thine own concern. We, by thy Providence, have been 
compelled to take a part. Thou therefore wilt be our defence.' 
"Whilst I was listening to Luther praying in this manner at a 
distance, my soul seemed on fire within me, to hear the man 
address God so like a friend, and yet with so much gravity and 
reverence ; and also to hear him, in the course of his prayer, 
insisting upon the promises contained in the Psalms, as if he was 
sure his petitions w^ould be granted. Was not this an illustration 
of David's confidence — " I hoped in thy word?'' — ^lilner's History, 
Vol. V, p. 565, Again referred to— Scott's Continuation, Vol. T. 
p. 77. 1 Jude20. 



VERSE 149. 403 

wants, will it raise us up, and supply strength for 
fresh conflict, and the earnest of blessed victory. 
There is always ground sure enough for faith. May the 
Lord ever furnish us with faith enough for our daily 
work, conflict, consolation, and establishment. 

1 49. Hear my voice according unto thy loving -kindness ; 
O Lord, quicken me according to thy judgment. 

In the eyes of the world, David appeared *'in all 
his glory," when seated on his throne and surrounded 
vv^ith the magnificence of his kingdom. But never 
did he appear so glorious in the sight of God, as 
when presenting himself in the character of a suppliant 
before the mercy-seat. Here we see him seeking an 
audience of the King of kings, and admitted into his 
presence only to send up reiterated cries for quicken- 
ing grace. And do not I need the same grace every 
moment, in every duty? Does not " the gift of God 
within me" need to be daily " stirred up 1 " ^ Are 
not the things that remain" often ''ready to die?"^ 
Then " hear my voice, Lord ; quicken me." But 
let me seek to '' order my cause before God." If I 
would urge my suit successfully, I must ''fill my 
mouth with arguments." ^ And if I can plead any 
thing from the character of my judge favourable to 
my cause ; if I can prove that promises have been 
made in my behalf, these will be most encouraging 
earnests of a successful issue. Now David had been 
so used thus to plead in cases of extremity, that argu- 
ments suited to his present distress were always ready 
at hand. When he comes therefore as a poor sinner to 
ask for mercy and grace in time of need, he accom- 

1 2 Tim. i. G. " Rev. iii. 2. ^ job xxiii. 4. 



404 EXPOSITION OF PSALM CXIX. 

panics his petition with pleas of irresistible power; 
reminding God of his own character of "loving- 
kindness and judgment," as affording the hope, that 
mercy would be vouchsafed to him abundant in 
measure, and seasonable in application. 

And with how much greater advantage than ever 
may these pleas now be urged before my God !— 
" With what full assurance of faith," i may I now ask 
to be heard, on account of that transcendent proof of 
"loving-kindness" manifested in the gift of God's 
dear Son-not only as his chiefest mercy, but as the 
pledge of every other mercy 2_and manifested too at 
the fittest time 3_" according to his judgment '^-aher 
the inefficiency of the powers of reason* and the 
sanctions, of the law^ to influence the heart, had been 
most clearly displayed. And how is my faith en- 
couraged in retracing the records of the Lord's 
" loving-kindness" to my soul! And how clear is 
my persuasion of his "judgment" in dealing wisely, 
reasonably, and tenderly with me according to his 
infallible perception of my need ! Often does the 
remembrance of the past raise me above the present 
difficulties, and strengthen me to hold fast the enjoy- 
ment of waiting for him. Gladly will I " set to my 
seal," that "the Lord is a God of judgment and 
that "blessed are they that wait for him.'^e jje 
knows not only what grace is needed, but at what 
time. Not a moment sooner will it come ; not a 
moment later will it be delayed. ' As thou wilt, what 
thou wilt, when thou wilt,'T_is the expression of faith 
and resignation, with which all must be committed to 
the Lord, waiting for the end, in humility, desire, 

\ Heb. X. 22. 2 See Rom. viii. 32. 3 See Gal. iv 4 
' Compare 1 Cor. i. 21. ' Comp. Jer. xxxi. 31—33 

Isaiah xxx. 18. 7 Thomas h. Kempis. 



VERSES 150, 151. 



405 



expectation. And if, in pleading my suit for an 
hearing " according to his loving -kindness, my poor, 
polluted, lifeless petitions should find no liberty of 
approach ; may I be but enabled to direct one believ- 
ing: look to ^Hhe Lamb that is in the midst of the 
throne ; " ^ and I will not doubt that my feeblest 
offering shall come up as a memorial before God. 

150. They draw nigh that follow after mischief ; they 
are far from thy law. — 151. Thou art near ^ O 
Lord ; and all thy commandments are truth, 

David's situation -surrounded with the enemies of 
God — had probably quickened him to prayer for a 
favourable audience, and for seasonable gi'ace. And 
now he enjoyed his God as a very present help 
in trouble,' '2 ^j^d the comfort of dependence on his 

commandments " as a true '' and solid foundation. 
An awful character indeed does he give of the ungodly. 

They are far from God's law'' — and that not from 
ignorance, but from wilful enmity. God witnesses 
against them, that ^' they hate instruction, and cast 
his words behind them.'' ^ j^^d they are not ashamed 
to consent, that this witness is true." They say 
unto God, Depart from us ; for we desire not the 
knowledge of thy ways."^ No wonder, therefore, 
that their enmity to the law should shew itself in 
enmity to the people of God — that those that are 
far from God's law " should draw night to folloio 
after mischief" ^ But if they draw nigh," the 

1 Rev. V. 6. 2 Psalm xlvi. 1. 

3 Ibid. 1. 17. Comp. Prov. i. 22, 25, 29. ^ Job xxi. 14. 

^ * He cannot brook the child, that hateth the father : he cannot 
mind the servant, that careth not for the master. If ye were of the 
world, the world would love you ; ye should dwell quietly. There 
would be no grief, no molestation, if the devil dwelt in you (which 



406 



EXPOSITION OF PSALM CXIX. 



Lord is nearer still. " I am thy 5Aie/(^''i— saitli he 
to his distressed child— who echoes back the promise 
in the cheerfulness of faith— Thou art my hiding- 
place and my shield ; I hope in thy word,''^ Elisha 
knew the power of this shield, when he quelled the 
alarm of his terrified servant. He beheld them " draw 
7iigh that follow after mischief but the eye of faith 
assured his heart; and when the Lord opened the 
eyes of the young man/'— he too was enabled to testify 
— Thou art near, Lord ! '' ^ 

But near as the Lord is to his people to shield them 
from their enemies, is he not yet nearer still, when 
he dwells in their hearts? Here is his temple," 4 
his desired habitation— like Zion of old, of which he 
said, ^'This is my rest for ever; here will I dwell, 
for I hav,e desired it."^ This is the dwelling, which 
once possessed of its Divine Inhabitant, will never be 
left desolate. 

Our spiritual enemies, like David's earthly perse- 
cutors, are ever present and active. The devouring 
'Mion,"6 or the insinuating serpent," 7 is /'nigh to 
follow after mischief; " and so much the more dan- 
gerous, as his approaches are invisible. Nigh also 

God forbid !) He would not stir up his knights to besiege your 

house but because Christ dwelleth in you (as he does by faith) ; 

therefore stirreth he up his first begotten son the world, to seek 
how to disquiet you, to rob you, to spoil you, to destroy you ; and 
perchance your dear Father, to try and make known to you and to 
the world, that ye are destinate to another dwelling than here on 
earth, to another city than man's eyes have seen at any time, hath 
given or will give power to Satan or to the world to take from you 
the things which he hath lent you ; and by taking away, to try 
your fidelity, obedience, and love towards him, (for ye may not 
love them above him) as by giving that ye have, and keeping it, he 
hath declared his love towards you.'— Bradford's Epistles — Fathers 
of the English Church, vol. vi. p. 58, 59. 

1 Genesis xv. 1. 2 Verse 114. 

3 Comp. 2 Kings vi. 14—17. ^ 2 Cor. vi. 16. 
^ Psalm cxxxii. 13, 14. & 1 Peter v. 8. 7 Rev. xii. 9. 



VERSE 150, 151. 407 
is a tempting, ensnaring workl-and nearer still— a 
lurking world of sin within, separating us from com- 
munion with our God. But in turning habitually 
and immediately to our strong hold, we can enjoy the 
confidence — '' Thou art near, Lord,'' Though 
the Hiah and Lofty One, whose name is holy i— 
though the just and teiTible God, yet art thou made 
nigh to thy people,^ and they to thee,^ - by the blood 
of the Cross." And thou dost manifest thy presence 
to them in the Son of thy love." 

Indeed to the Son himself, the nearness of his 
Father's presence was a source of consolation and 
support, when " they drew nigh that followed after 
mischief " Be is near "—said he-'' ivhich justi- 
feth me ; who will contend with me ? let us stand 
together. Who is mine adversary ? let him come near 
to me. Behold the Lord God will help me ; who is 
he that shall condemn me ? So they all shall wax old 
as doth a garment : the moth shall eat them up,'' ^ 
" ^eAoZ^Z "-said he to his affrighted disciples, as his 
hour drew near—" the hour cometh, yea is now come, 
that ye shall be scattered every one to his own, and 
shall leave me alone ; and yet I am not alone, because 
the Father is with me," ^ And thus his people in 
earthly desolation have recourse to the word and pro- 
mises of their God ; and in the recollection of his 
faithful, ever-present help, " set to their seal," that 
''all his commandments are truth,'' The mischief 
intended for their souls only serves to prove, that 
"thou, Lord, wilt bless the righteous; with favour 
wilt thou compass him as with a shield." ^ 

But may the Lord not only be brought near as 
it respects our interest in him, but be kept near in 

1 Isaiah Ivii. 15. ^ Col. i. 20, 3 Eph. ii. 13. 

4 Isaiah 1. 8, 9. ^ ^ John xvi. 33. ^ Psalm v. 12. 



408 EXPOSITION OF PSALM CXIX. 

communion with him ! Let our hearts be sacred to 
him. Let us be most careful to watch against any 
strangeness with this beloved Friend, and to cultivate 
a gTOwing cordiality and closeness in our walk with 
him. In a backsliding state — we must expect to lose 
the delightful sense of this nearness.^ In a state of 
darkness — if we cannot see him near, it is the exercise 
of faith, to believe that he is near ; and the practical 
influence of faith will lead us to speak, and pray, and 
think and praise, as seeing him who is invisible." ^ 
In a state of enjoyment, let us anticipate the time, 
when he will be ever near to us. 

And I heard a great voice out of heaven, saying. 
Behold the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will 
dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God 
himself ^hall be with them, and be their God.'^ ^ 

152. Concerning thy testimonies^ I have known of old, 
that thou hast founded them for ever. 

The Psalmist's conviction just stated, of the " truth 
of God's word, was the result of early consideration. 
He had knoivn it of oldJ^ It is indeed expressly 
revealed in connection with the believer's comfort, and 
as conti'asted with the precarious security of earthly 
hopes—'' The voice said Cry. And he said. What 
shall I cry ? All flesh is grass, and all the goodliness 
thereof is as the flovjer of the field. The grass 
withereth, the flower fadeth : but the word of our 
God shall stand for ever/' ^ 

But let us mark this eternal basis of the testi- 
monies of God." The whole plan of redemption was 
emphatically founded for ever : " the Saviour was 

1 Cant. V. 2—6. 2 Heb. xi. 27. 

3 Rev. xxi. 3. ^ jgaiah xl. 1—8. 



VERSE 152. 



409 



foreordained before the foundation of the worlds ^ 
The people of God were chosen in Christ before the 
world began ! ^ The great Author declares the end 
from the beginning/^ ^ and thus clears his dispensations 
from any charge of mutability or contingency. Every 
event in the church is fixed, permitted, and provided 
for — not in the passing moment of time, but in the 
counsels of eternity. When therefore the testimonies 
set forth God's faithful engagements with his people 
of old, the recollection that they are founded for 
ever " gives us a present and unchangeable interest in 
them. And when we see that they are grounded upon 
the oath and promise of God — the two immutable 
things, in which it is impossible for God to lie '' ^ — we 
may truly ''have strong consolation" in venturing 
every hope for eternity upon this rock ; nor need we 
be dismayed to see all our earthly dependences—'' the 
world, and the lust, and the fashion of it — passing 
away " before us.^ Yet we are most of us strangely 
attached to this fleeting scene, even when experience 
and Divine teaching have instructed us in its vanity ; 
and it is not until repeated proofs of this truth have 
touched us very closely, in the destruction of our 
dearest consolations, that we take the full comfort 
of the enduring foundation of God's testimonies, and 
of the imperishable character of their treasure. 

The consideration of this subject is fraught with 
special support in a dying hour. ' I am on the borders 
of an unknown world ' (may the believer say) ; but 
I have " a hope that maketh not ashamed,"^ which 
at this moment of peril is as " an anchor of the soul, 

^ 1 Peter i. 20. Compare Rev. xiii. 8. 
2 Eph. i. 4. 2 Tim. i. 9. ^ Isaiah xlvi. 9, 10. 
4 Heb. vi. 16—18. ^ i j^hn ii. 17. 1 Cor. vii. 31. 

' ^ Romans v. 5 . 

T 



410 EXPOSITION OF PSALM CXIX. 

sure and stedfast ; and in the strength of which I 
do not fear to plunge into eternity. • I know 
whom I have believed, and am persuaded, that he is 
able to keep that which I have committed to him 
against that day.''^ I know that he is the Lord : 
he changeth not ; " ^ his word changes not : his testi- 
monies abide the same : ''I have known of old, that 
he has founded them for ever,'' ' We look for the 
removing of those " things that are shaken, as of 
things that are made, that those things which cannot 
be shaken may remain/' ^ The scoffer may say— If 
the foundations be destroyed, what can the righteous 
do! *'^ Let God himself give the answer— jLz/i^ 
up your eyes to the heavens, and look upon the earth 
beneath ; for the heavens shall vanish away like smoke, 
and the earth shall wax old like a garment, and they 
that dwell therein shall die in like manner; but my 
salvation shall be for ever, and my righteousness shall 
not be abolished.'' ^ 

1 2 Tim. i. 12. " Mai. iii. 6. ^ Heb.xii. 27. 

4 Psalm xi. 3. ^ Isaiah li. 6. 



VERSE 153. 



411 



PART XX. 

153. Consider mine affliction and deliver me; for I 
do not forget thy law. 

The believer in his severest trouble knows not the 
aggravation of having no pitying eye or friendly help. 
This was indeed one of the bitter dregs in the Saviour's 
" cup of trembling, " which had well-nigh over- 
whelmed him with the distress of unmitigated sorrow 
— Reproach '' — said he in the agony of his soul— 
" hath broken my heart, and I am full of heaviness ; 
I looked for some to take pity, but there was none, 
and for comforters, but I found noyieJ^^ But it was 
this depth of trial, that combined with ever other part 
of his unknown sufferings to make him such an High 
Priest as became us,^^'^ " touched with the feeling of 
our infirmities : ^ considering our afflictions^^ and, 
in that he himself hath suffered being tempted, able 
to succour them that are tempted.'' Mark the tender 
sympathy with which he "considered the affliction'' 
of his people in Egypt — " And the Lord said, I have 
surely seen the affliction of my people luhich are in 
Egypt, and have heard their cry by reason of their 
task-masters, for I know their sorrows," ^ At a sub- 
sequent period of their history, " his soul was grieved 
for the misery of Israel"^— di sweet example of that 
compassionate interest with which, in all his people's 
afflictions, he is himself afflicted.'"^ Well may his 

^ Psalm Ixix. 20. Comp. xxii. IL - Heb. vii. 26. 

2 Ibid. iv. 15. * Ibid. ii. 18. § Exod. iii. 7. also ii. 25. 
^ Judges X. 16. 1 Isaiah Ixiii. 9. 

T 2 



412 



EXPOSITION OF PSALM CXIX. 



people take encouragement to pray — Consider Jiiine 
affiiction:^ Xow therefore let not all the trouble 
seem little before thee, that hath come upon us.^^'^ 

But not only doth he show himself tender to con- 
sider'^ us, but mighty to "deliver,'' AVho is this 
that cometh from Edom, with dyed garments from 
Bozrah ? This that is glorious in his apparel, travel- 
ling in the gTeatness of his strength ? I that speak in 
righteousness, mighty to save,'' ^ The consciousness j 
that " ive do not forget Ju^ law," furnishes us with 
a plea to urge before the Lord, that he would not 
forget to ''consider our affliction and deliver'' us; 
and is of itself an evidence, that the affliction has not 
altogether failed of performing its appointed work. 
A similar plea is urged again and again in this Psalm 
—^^ Save me; for I have sought thy precepts. Let 
thine hand help me ; for I have chosen thy precepts. 
Seek thy servant ; for I do not forget thy cornmand- 
ments."^ Let me then expect in mine affliction the 
fulfilment of his gracious promise — Because he hath 
set his love upon me, therefore will I deliver him : I 
will set him on high, because he hath known my 
name. He shall call upon me^and I will answer him ; 
I will be with him in trouble ; I will deliver him, 
and honour him.*'^ Li the midst of my trials let me 
prepare my h^Tun of praise for his tender consideration 
and his faithful deliverance — "1 will be glad and 
rejoice in thy mercy : for thou hast considered my 
trouble ; thou hast known mv soul in adversities, and 
hast not shut me up in the hand of the enemy ; thou 
has set my feet in a large room.'^^ Let me then 
remember my affliction, only as it may be the means 

1 Neh. ix. 32. - Isaiah Ixiii. 1. 

3 Verses 94, 173, 176. ^ Psalm sci. 14, 15. 

^ Ibid. xxxi. 7, 8. 




VERSE 154. 413 

of increasing my acquaintance with my tender and 
Almighty friend. Poor and afflicted as I may be, let ^ 
me be more poor and afflicted still, if I may but have 
fresh evidence that he thinketh upon me "i— that 
he considers my affiiction,'' and in his own gracious 
time and way will deliver me."" 

154. Tlead my cause, and deliver me : quicken me 
according to thy word. 

Oppressed as the Psalmist appeared to be at this 
moment, he is at no loss where to apply for help. 
He carries his righteous cause to him, who stilleth 
the enemy and the avenger." 2— Plead my cause, 
O Lord, with them that strive with me : fight against 
them that fight against me. Take hold of shield and 
buckler, and stand up for my help. Draw out also the 
spear, and stop the way against them that persecute 
me : say unto my soul, I am thy salvation.'' ^ Thus 
does the believer throughout his warfare maintain 
''the patience of hope," ^ waiting for the Lord, 
'' until he plead his cause, and execute judgment 
for him." ^ He is assured, that if there is an accuser 
to resist, 6 there is an Advocate to plead, t who could 
testify of his prevailing acceptance in the court of 
heaven—'' Father, I thank thee, that thou hast heard 
me. And I knew, that thou hearest me alway." ' 
Our Redeemer does indeed " plead our cause" suc- 
cessfully for our "deliverance;" when but for his 
powerful advocacy we must have stood speechless in 
the judgment— helpless without any prospect of the 
restoration of favour or acceptance. Awful indeed 

1 Psalmxl. 17. " Ibid. 2. - Ibid.xxxv. 1—3. 

4 1 Thess. i. 3. ^ Mic. vii. 9. ^ Zech. iii. 1. 

7 i Johnii. 1. ^ John xi. 41, 42. 



414 



EXPOSITION OF PSALM CXIX. 



was the cause which he had to manage. We could 
neither deny the charge, nor offer compensation for 
the injury. We could neither stand in the judg- 
ment/' nor flee from the impending wrath. But we 
had at that moment of infinite peril (and we still 
have) an Advocate with the Father.'' The voice 
that was once heard in heaven exactly answers to this 
I>etition for deliverance—'' Deliver them from going 
down to the pit : I have found a ransow..^^ ^ This 
ransom no less than the price of his own '' precious 
blood," 2 shed for many for the remission of sins " ^ 
— a ransom, which has merited and obtained eternal 

deliverance "4 for his people, and which still pleads 
for the expiation of the daily and hourly guilt, which 
attaches to their holiest services, and defiles their 
happiest approaches to their God. When therefore 
Satan accuses me; yea, when my own heart con- 
demns me, I may look upward to my heavenly Ad- 
vocate — "Plead my cause and deliver '• O 
Lord, I am oppressed; undertake for me. Thou 
wilt answer, O Lord my God." ^ 

Poor trembling sinner ! take courage. Your 
Redeemer is mighty — he will thoroughly plead your 
cause," 7 and leave no charge unanswered. But you 

Job xxxiii. 24. 2 ^ pg^gj. 

3 Matt. xxvi. 28. ^ j^eb. ix. 12. 

^ ' The word translated ''deliver me," is taken from the office 
of a redeemer or next of kin amongst the Israelites, to whom it 
belonged to redeem the inheritance, or ransom the person, of his 
impoverished or enslaved relative ; and also to be his patron and 
defender against injustice and oppression, and the avenger of his 
blood, if he was slain.'— Scott.^ — The use therefore of this word 
in the original in this verse — naturally pointing the believer's 
attention to him, who is indeed near of kin to him, and has com- 
bined all the oflBces of the ancient redeemer in his one beloved 
Person — at once illustrates and warrants the view that is here 
given of the passage. 

^ Isaiah xxxviii. 14. Psalm xxxviii. 15. Marg. and P. T. 
' Jeremiah 1. 34. 



VERSE 154. 

say-You can take no comfort. It does not speak 
to you. Yet if not to you, to whom does it speak? 
Who needs an advocate more than you ? He has 
indeed nothing favourable to plead of you, but much, 
very much for you. For he pleads the merit of his 
own blood "that taketh away the sm oi the 
^orld " i-even that great sin of " unbelief," ot 
which his Spirit is now " convincing " ^ you ; and 
which you have been made to feel, lament, and 
resist as the bitterest foe to your peace. And does 
he not "ever live to make intercession for you? 
Why then hesitate to apply the certain and consoling 
inference, that " he is able to save to the uttermost? " ^ 
Why discouraged by the sight of sin, temptation, 
backsliding, difficulty and fear, arising before you 
on every side ; when after you have taken the most 
extended view of the prospect of sorrow, this one word 
" uttermost " goes beyond it ? 

Yet while we are enabled to exercise faith in our 
heavenly Advocate, how can we forbear to mourn 
over our own sluggishness in his service? Every cry 
therefore of deliverance through the power of his 
pleading is well accompanied with the supplication 
" Quicken me." Every moment's perseverance and 
support depends upon this Divine supply. Blessed 
be God for the sure warrant of expectation— " ^c- 
cording to thy word.'' Here we shall receive not only 
the living principle, but its lively operation ; not only 
the fire to kindle the lamp, but the oil to feed the 
flame. For he, that is our Advocate to " plead" for 
us, and our Saviour to "deliver" us, is also our 
quickening Head, filled with " the residue of the 
Spirit" to "revive his work" in the hearts of his 

1 John i. 29. . ^ Ibid. xvi. 8, 9 = Heb vii. 25. 



4ib EXPOSITION OF PSALM CXIX. 

people. He hath ascended on high, and hath received 
gifts for men; yea, for the rebellious also, that the 
Lord God might dwell among theraJ' i Do we there- 
fore want a heart to pray, to praise, to believe, to love ? 
Let us only look to an ascended Saviour, sending down 
the life-giving influence from above, as the purchase 
of his blood, the fruit of his intercession ; and our 
hope will be enlivened, our faith established, and the 
graces of the Spirit will be abounding to the glory 
of our God. 



155. Salvation is far from the icicked ; for they seek 
not thy statutes. 

All the misery that an immortal soul is capable 
of enduring throughout eternity is included in this 
sentence— Salvation is far from the wicked:' The 
full picture of it is drawn by our Lord himself— 
^^The rich man died, and was buried; and in hell 
he lifted up his eyes, being in torments, and seetk 
Abraha7n afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom:' 2 As 
it respects the present enjoyment of salvation," it 
is also '^far from the wicked. There is no peace, 
saith my God to the wicked.^^3 Xheir common 
employm^ents are ^'sin.''4 Their '^sacrifice is an 
abomination." 5 Their life is without Christ, hav- 
ing no hope, and without God in the world." ^ But 
who can tell the curse of eternity, with this salva- 
tion far from them ? " To be eternally shut out 
from God — from heaven !— To be eternally shut in 
with the enemies of God, and the heirs of hell ! 
Fellow- christians —look fi^om what ye have escaped— 
what ye were, when " ye were sometimes afar off"— 

^ Psalm Lxviii. 18. 2 l^j^^ ^^-^ 22, 23, 26, s j^n^ ^1 
^ Proy. xxi. 4. ^ jb^cj^ ^v. 8. 6 £p_h, jj^ 



VERSE 155. 417 

what ye would have been now and for ever, had ye 
not " in Christ Jesus been made nigh by the blood 
of Christ." 1 

But whence is it that ''the wicked" are in this 
inexpressibly awful condition ? Is not '' salvation " 
offered to them? '' Are they shut out from hope, 
and sternly refused an interest in the covenant ? Oh ! 
no ; it is their own doing, or rather their own undoing. 
That '' Salvationis far from them;' is, because '' they 
are far from God's law:' It does not fly from them 

but they fly from it. Every act is a stride of mind 

more or less vigorous in departure from God. Nay — 
such is their contempt for God, that '' they will not 
even seek his statutes," They " desire not the know- 
ledge of his ways." They '' say to God— Depart 
from us." 2 God therefore will say to them — '' Depart 
from me." 2 It is not then so much God that punishes 
them, as they that punish themselves. Their own 
sin— the necessity of the case— punishes them. They 
will not come to Christ, that they might have 
life: "4 so that they are without excuse"^— die 
they must. 

But who are " the wicked ? " Alas ! this is a 
melancholy question, as involving within its sphere 
so large a proportion of what passes for amiable, 
virtuous, and lovely, in the estimation of the world. 
Not to speak of those, whose character is written 
upon their foreheads too broadly to mistake them ; it 
includes ''all that forget God," ^ however blame- 
less their moral character, or their external Christian 
profession. It is determined upon infallible and im- 
mutable authority. It is the decree of our eternal 
Judge — " If any man have not the Spirit of Christ, 

1 Eph. ii. 13. 2 Job xxi. 14. ^ Matt. vii. 23. xxv. 41. 
John V. 40. ^ Rom. i. 20. ^ Psalm ix. 17. 

T 5 



418 



EXPOSITION OF PSALM CXIX. 



he is none of his ; ^ and if none of his, then it follows 
in an unavoidable consequence, that '^salvation is far 
from him. Oh ! could we but persuade such of 
their awful state— -Oh ! could we awake them from 
their death-like — deadly sleep^ — slumbering on the 
borders of eternity ! on the brink of ruin ! But they 
are impaled in their own self-esteem, or in the favour- 
able comparison drawn between themselves and many 
around them ; forgetting that the rule, by which they 
will be judged, is not the world's standai'd of moral 
rectitude, but the statutes of a holy, heart-searching 
God ; forgetting too, that all maybe decency without, 
while all is corruption within. Let them bring their 
hearts to the test of an honest and prayerful scrutiny 
of the statutes of God ; and while they must confess 
themselves giiilty before God, a sense of danger would 
awaken the hearty cry for salvation, - which would 
not then he far from thein."^ For ''the Lord is 
nigh unto all them that call upon him, to all that 
call upon him in truth. He will fulfil the desire 
of them that fear him ; he will also hear their cry, 
and will save theyn/'' ^ 

O thou Almighty Spirit, whose power is alone 
able to '' turn the hearts of the disobedient to the 
wisdom of the just,*'^ raise up thy power and 
come among us," — ''rend the heavens and come 
down,*' 6 — rend the hearts of simiers — of the ungodly 
— the moral — the amiable — the self-righteous. " Fill 
their faces with shame, that they may seek thy name, 
O Lord.-'T 

1 Rom. viii. 9. ^ Acts xvi. 30> 

3 See Psalm Ixsxv. 9. ^ Ibid. cxlv. 18, 19. 

^ Luke i. 17. ^ Isaiah Ixiv. 1. 

' Psalm Ixxxiii. 16 = 



VERSE 156. 



419 



lo6. Great are thy tender mercies, Lord; quicken 
me according to thy judgments. 

The Psalmist, when speakiag of the wretched con- 
dition of the wicked,'' is naturally led to adore the 
mercies of the Lord, which had " made him to diflfer." 
For indeed to this som'ce alone must we trace the 
distinction between those who are quickened/' and 
those who are dead in trespasses and sins.'' God 
who is rich in mercy, for the gTeat lore wherewith 
he loved us, even when we were dead in sins," hath 
quickened us together with Christ ; by grace ye are 
saved." 1 

And truly "great'' indeed and tender are the 
Lord's mercies'' "great" in their extent ; " tender" 
in their exercise. Great " was that first purpose of 
mercy," which set us apart for his glory. - " Great" 
was that first display of mercy" when he looked 
upon us in his time of love "—rescued us from 
Satan, sin, death, and hell, and drew us to himself. ^ 
-'^ Tender" also is that continued stream of mercy, 
which follows us through every step of our wilder- 
ness journey — which compasses us about, abounds 
towards us, keeps us stedfast, or restores us when 
wandering, and will preserve us to the end. 

Happy are we if we can join in this sweet acknow- 
ledgment—'' Great are thy tender mercies, Lord" — 
But what poor returns have we made for this infinite 
love ! Surely the petition for quickening grace suits 
us well. This was the constant burden of David's 
prayer. For he was not like many professors who 
arrive at an easy assurance of their interest in the 

1 Eph. ii. 1, 4, 5. - Ibid. i. 4—6, 

3 Ezekiel xvi. 6—8. 



420 EXPOSITION OF PSALM CXIX, 

gospei, and can maintain this assurance in all the 
carelessness of an idle and unfruitful life. No ; he 
was a believer of a very high standard ; he was de- 
sirous, not only of proving his title to the covenant 
blessings, but of living in their habitual enjo^onent. 
Often as this petition has been brought before us 
in the course of this Psalp, it is too important ever 
to be passed over. Let us at this time use it for the 
purpose of individual self-inquiry. In what respects 
do I need quickening grace ? Are my views of sin, 
and especially of the sin of my own heart, slight 
and superficial ? Do they fail in producing humility, 
abasement, tenderness of conscience, circumspection 
of conduct ? If it be so — Quicken me, my God! 
Does my apprehension of a Saviour's love serve to 
embitter sin to me ? to crucify sin in me, to warm 
and enliven m}^ heart with love to him, and zeal in 
his service ? If I am convicted of coldness to such 
a Saviour, and sluggislmess in such a service, I need 
to pray — Lord, Quicken me!'^ And how do I 
find it with regard to prayer itself ? Are not my 
prayers general — unfrequent — wandering ? Is not my 
sei-vice too often constrained, a forced duty, rather than 
a privilege and delight ? — Lord, quicken me ! 

Such, and similar questions, will be helpful to the 
necessary duty of self-inspection, and will stir up 
the prayer for quickening gTace. The evil of a dead 
and drooping state must not be lightly thought of; 
for at such times the difference between the believer 
and the worldling, or at least between the believer 
and the formalist, is scarcely visible. O believer, you 
have gi'eat need to carry your complaint again and 
again unto the Lord — Quicken me — quicken me— 
according to thy jvAgments " — according to those gra- 
cious promises, which are the method of thy proceed- 



VERSE 157. '^^l 

ims, and the rule of thy dispensations of grace. You 
cannot be too earnest to welcome the breathings ot 
the Spirit, or too cautious, that you resist not his 
Divine impression by your own indolence. When 
the Spirit quickens you with his influence, do you 
quicken him with your supplications-" Awake, 
north wind: and come, thou south; blow upon my 
garden that the spices thereof may flow out." ^ Per- 
suade-entreat-constrain his stay. Enlivened by his 
energv', how happy, and in your own sphere how 
useful a member of the Church of Christ you may 
be found ! Our souls will be invigorated—our graces 
strengthened-and our alfections elevated in humble, 
cheerful, steady dependence upon the Saviour, and 
in daily renewed devotedness to his service. The more 
the spiritual life is thus " exercised unto godliness," 
the more delightfully shall we realize the active ser- 
vice and everlasting praise, which will constitute the 
perfection of heavenly enjoyment. " His servants 
shall serve him: and they shall see his face; and his 
name shall be in their foreheads." « 



157. Many are my persecutors and mine enemies ; yet 
do I not decline from thy testimonies. 

David's experience is common to all the servants 
of God. " Ma7uj indeed are their persecutors and 
their enemies." This is a solemn cost. Let those 
who are setting out in the Christian course count 
it well. From neglect of our Lord's rule of Scrip- 
tural calculation,^ many have failed of "enduring 
to the end." They seem to begin well; but they 
stop short, and turn back. They are zealous, but 

1 Cant. iv. 16. " Rev. xxii. 3, 4. ' Luke xiv. 28-33. 



422 EXPOSITION OF PSALM CXIX. 

inconsiderate; warm-hearted, but ignorant of them- 
selves, their work, and their resources. We would 
say therefore to all beginners, and especially to those 
of a sanguine temperament — Let your course be com- 
menced with serious consideration, and jealous self- 
scrutiny. Beware of hasty determinations. But see 
to it that your resources are drawn— not from vour 
own resolutions, or from the sincerity and ardour 
of your love— but from the fulness that is treasured 
up in Jesus for your present distress. Feel every 
step of your way by the light of the sacred word. 
If you expect a life of steady and uniform consistency 
to command the esteem and respect of an ungodly 
world, you have forgotten both the word and the 
example of Him whom you profess to follow. The 
servant is not greater than his Lord. If they have 
persecuted me, they will also persecute you " i)— and 
you will soon be ready to exclaim — Many are my 
persecutors and mine enemies J' For if their hostility 
is not always active, it is not quelled or wearied 
out. The enmity is not dead but sleepeth.'' If 
however, on the other hand, their unexpected sur- 
prisals and inveteracy should daunt you in the con- 
flict, you are again forgetting the word of support 
and encouragement in the most awful crisis — " My 
grace is sufficient for thee ; for my strength is made 
perfect in loeakness.'' ^ Thus the word of God will 
be the armour of righteousness on the right hand 
and on the left.''^ Presumption is cast down, self- 
confidence is humbled, and the trembling simplicity 
of dependence upon an Almighty arm is upheld and 
honoured. 

Count then upon the difficulties that beset the 
1 John XV. 20. '2 Cor. xii. 9. 3 jbi^^ 7^ 



VERSE 157. 423 
heavenly path. You will never pluck the Rose of 
Sharon, if you are afraid of being packed with he 
thorns which surround it. You will never reach the 
crown, if you flinch from the cross in the way to it. 
Oh! think of the honour of bearing this cross. It is 
conformity to the Son of God. Let the mmd be 
deeply imbued with the remembrance of his dai y 
<^oss of suflfering and reproach; and we shall gladly 
- no forth without the camp, hearing his reproach, 
and even rejoicing, if we are counted worthy to 
suffer shame" ^ with him and for him. xndeed what 
love do we profess to bear him, if we will not take 
up a cross for him ? How can we be his followers 
without his cross ? ^ How can we be Christians if we 
are not confessors of Christ before a world that de- 
spises his Gospel ? ^ . • 

But a steady consistent Christian profession is no 
matter of course. The crown is not easily won.- 
" Many are our persecutors and our enemies. i^er- 
secution to the false professor is an occasion of apos- 
tacv ; ' to the faithful servant of Christ, it is the 
trial of his faith,* the source of his richest consola- 
tions,5 the guard of his profession,^ and the strength 
of his perseverance. T It drives him to his God. He 
casts himself upon his Saviour for immediate refuge 
and support ; and, in the exercise of his confidence, he 
can say-" Yet do I not decline from thy testimonies. 
Thus was the sreat Apostle-at the time when his 
'^persecutors were many," and human help even 
from his friends had failed him, enabled to maintain 
an unshaken confidence in the service of his God. 

1 Heb. xiii. 13. Acts V. 41. ! ^^^'tlfi f t""' 

3 Ibid. xiu. 20, 21. " . :9 \f. 

^ Matt. V. 10-12. Acts xiii. 50-52 1 Peter 12 16. 
6 Matt. X. 16. Phil. ii. 14-16. ? Acts xx. 22-24. 



424 EXPOSITION OF PSALM CXIX. 

''At my first answer' —he tells us— ''no man stood 
with me, but ail men forsook me. Notwithstand- 
ing the Lord stood with me and strengthened me.'' i 
David himself often acknowledged the same principle 
of perseverance under similar circumstances of trial. 
" Lord, how are they increased that trouble me ? 
Many are they that rise up against me. Many there 
be, which say of my soul, There is no help for him 
in God.— But, Thou, Lord, art a shield for me : 
7mj glory, and the lifter up of my head. God the 
Lord, the strength of my salvation, thou hast covered 
7ny head in the day of battle J' " 

But have we never taken a devious path in " declin- 
ing from the Lord's testimonies,'' to escape the ap- 
pointed cross ? Do we never shrink from " the voice 
of him that reproacheth and blasphemeth, by reason 
of the enemy and the avenger ? '' Can we ahvays 
in the integrity of our heart appeal to an Omniscient 
God — " All this is come upon us ; yet have we not 
forgotten thee, neither have we dealt falsely in thy 
covenant ; our heart is not turned back, neither liave 
our steps declined from thy way ; though thou hast 
sore broken us in the place of dragons, and covered 
us with the shadow of death V ^ Nor is this the 
foolish confidence of boasting; but the fulfilment 
of the covenant promise— I will put my fear in 
their hearts, and they shall not depart from me.*'* 
So beautifully does the promise of perseverance con- 
nect itself with the duty of persevering. And so 
clearly in this, as in every other way, does " the wrath 
of man" ("howbeit he meaneth not so, neither doth 
his heart think so") praise God!"^ How glorious 

1 2Tim.iv. 16/17. 2 pgaim m. i_3 . cxl. 7, 

\ Ibid. xliv. 16—19. 4 jer.xxxii. 40. 

^ Compare Isaiah x. 7, with Psalm Ixxvi. 10. 



VERSE 158. 425 

is the display of the power of his grace, in the con- 
stancy of his people ! like the rocks, in the ocean, 
immoveable amidst the fury of the waves ; like the 
trees of the forest-" rooted and stablished" by every 
shaking of the tempest ! Must not the world in 
witnessing the total defeat of their enmity against the 
Lord's people (or rather its eventual results in their 
increased prosperity), be constrained to confess to the 
honour of God—" Surely there is no enchantment 
against Jacob, neither is there any divination against 
Israel: according to this time it shall be said of Jacob 
and of Israel— What hath God wrought ! " ^ 

158. I beheld the transgressors, and was grieved; 
because they kept not thy word. 

We shall not tire in listening to this repeated ex- 
pression ^ of the Psalmist's tenderness for the honour 
of God. No trouble from his " maiiy persecutors and 
enemies" came so near his heart as the sight of the 
dishonour and contempt of God's word. The glory 
of God was dearer to him than life. Oh ! that every 
recollection of this tried servant of God might deepen 
the mark of the Lord's peculiar acceptance upon our 
too cold and indifferent hearts ! ^ Our joys indeed and 
our sorrows are as it were the pulse for the accurate 
discernment of our spiritual state. A fellowship with 
the joys of the angels of God over repenting sinners* 
must be accompanied with bitterness of godly sorrow 
over the hardness and impenitency of those who " keep 
not the word of God." But even here we need much 
and earnest prayer in order to obtain a clear and well- 
digested acquaintance with the real springs and motives 

1 Numb, xxiii. 23. = Comp. Verses 63, 136. 

3 See Ezekiel ix. 4—6. * Luke xv. 10. 



426 EXPOSITION OF PSALM CXIX. 

of our conduct and profession. Sin is so subtle in its 
nature and workings, that it insinuates itself into our 
holiest desires, and often so far interweaves itself into 
the gi-aces of the Spirit, as greatly to mar their beauty, 
and obstruct their operations. How often is zeal for 
the honour of God mingled with the unhallowed fire 
of our own spirit ! ^ True zeal is indeed a precious 
fruit of the Spirit, whose other name is love— active, 
self-denying, compassionate love for sinners, • Let me 
never fancy I have zeal ^ — said a Christian of a very 
high order — ' till my heart overflows with love to 
every man living J - If then we are really under the 
influence of Christian zeal and love, we shall lose no 
opportunity of active exertions on behalf of wretched 
''transgressors and the limits of our zeal will be 
only the limits of a fallen world. Especially within 
our own sphere will labour and pains be employed to 
stem the tide of unrighteousness—'' saying unto the 
fools — Deal not foolishly— H ow long, ye simple ones, 
will ye love simplicity ? Tura ye, turn ye, why will 
ye die ? ^ 

But the fervency of zeal will express itself in some- 
thing more difficult than personal service. We can 
often warn ti'ansgressors, and labour in their cause, 
when we are sadly backward in sending up sighs and 
cries on their behalf ; and in presenting these poor 
lepers by faith to that great and good Physician, 
whose ''power present to heal''^ has been so abun- 
dantly manifested. This is indeed zeal of rare attain- 
ment through our own unbelief ; but it brings its own 
rich blessing to the soul ; because it is the zeal and 
the mind of the compassionate Jesus ; who^ — though 

1 See Luke ix. 54, 55. 2 Martyn's Life, p. 192. 

^ Psalmlxxv. 4. Prov. i. 22. Ezek. xxxiii. il. 
* Luke V. 17. 



VERSE 159. 4^' 

he looked round on sinners with anger, being grieved 
for the hardness of their hearts " did not forget to 
plead on their behalf—*' Father, forgive them ; for 
they know not ivhat they do.'' ^ It ^Yas the zeal and 
love of him— who so indentified his Father's interest 
with his own, that he endured the reproaches cast upon 
him in his bosom. ^ And should not the members feel, 
when the Head is wounded ? Should not we consider 
every dishonour done to Jesus as a shaft piercing our 
own breast? Can we bear to ''behold'' all around 
us united in a conspiracy against the honour, and — if 
it were possible— against the life, of our dearest friend 
and benefactor, and not be painfully ''grieved? 
Yet genuine " grief" must begin with our o^vn hearts 

all of us mourning, every one for his iniquity." ^ 

The wickedness of others will stir up the conviction 
within our own consciences— I 4o remember my 
faults this day.'' ^ And when once we begin the 
enumeration, where shall we end ? " Who can waders 
stand his errors ? Cleanse thou me from secret faults ! " 
" Enter not into judgment icith thy servant, Lord,'"^ 



159. Consider how I love thy precepts : quicken me, 
Lord, according to thy loving-kindness. 

'' Love for the precepts" — such as delineated 
throughout this Psalm— is a distinguishing character- 

1 Mark lii. 5. ^ L^ke xxiii. 34. 

3 Psalm Ixix. 9, 20, with Rora. xv. 3. 
^ Celerinus in Cyprian's Epistles, acquaints a friend with his great 
<^rief for the apostacv of a woman through fear of persecution ; 
which afflicted him so much, that at the feast of Easter (the 
Queen of feasts in the primitive church) he wept night and day, 
and resolved never to know a moment's delight, till through the 
niprcy of God she should be recovered. 

5 Ezekiel vii. 16. ^ Genesis xU. 9. 

Psalm xix. 12; cxliii. 2, 



428 EXPOSITION OF PSALM CXIX. 

istic of a child of God. The transgressors " neither 
''love the precepts'' nor desire ''quickening" grace 
to keep them. 'Not that they are '' grievous i in 
themselves — but only too strict — too humbling for 
the unrenewed, proud, worldly heart,^ Love therefore 
to them — not being the growth of the natural man — 
must be ''a plant which our heavenly Father hath 
planted " — a witness of the spirit of adoption, and an 
encouragement to approach to God with filial con- 
fidence. And how encouraging to the timid Christian 
is the recollection of the Lord's readiness to '' consider 
how he loves his precepts ! " Thus did he '' consider 
Abraham — '' I know Abraham, that he will command 
his children and his household after him, and they 
shall keep the way of the Lord, that the Lord may 
bring upon Abraham that which he hath spoken of 
him." 3 Thus also did he challenge '' the accuser 
af the brethren," respecting his servant Job — "Hast 
thou considered my servant Joh, that there is none like 
him in the earth, a perfect and upright man, one that 
feareth God and escheweth evil ? " ^ 

But while believers may enjoy the full confidence 
of the Lord's consideration of them as " loving his 
precepts " — the consciousness of the imperfection and 
scanty measure of their love will always prevent them 
from urging it as the ground of their acceptance. 
Christian ! you know not — or at least you allow 
not the proud boast — " God, I thank thee, that I am 
not as other men are."^ rather— your constant 

cry to the end is—'' Quicken Your plea is not 

merit— but merit, "according to thy loving kindness,'' 
You know you do not deserve to be helped, because 
you " love the precepts : " but you desire and trust to 

1 1 John V. 3. 2 Comp. Jer. vi. 10. ^ q^j^^ ^y^ii. 19. 
^ Job i. 8. 5 Luke xviii. 11. 



VERSE 159. 429 
be helped, because of the free loving -kindness" of 
your God. And what must be the kindness-t\^& 
loving-kindness of a God of infinite love ! Only do 
not sit still, and wait for the breezes of his love. 
Rather call to the " north wind to awake, and to the 
south wind to blow,"i to spread your sails, and urge 
you on. You can say indeed, that God— his word, 
iiis works, his perfections, his holiness-Jesus-his 
pity, his love, his grace- is their delight, their chief 
delight; yet how infinitely is it below the scriptural 
standard of privilege, attainment, and expectation ! 

Cnder the painful influence of straitened desires 
and heartless affections, how refreshing is it to mark 
the springs of life flowing from " the loving-kindness 
of the Lord'." Hemember to be filled"— \s the 
promise.2 We have life from thee; but blessed 
Jesus '.-give it us " more abundantly " 3-as much as 
these houses of clay-as much as these earthen vessels 
can contain. Our taste of tliy love, and our know- 
ledge of its unbounded fulness— encourages our plea 
to ask thee still for more. " Quicken us according ta 
thy loving-kindness." Often as the Psalmist had 
repeated his prayer for quickening grace,* it was not 
a " vain repetition," ^ or an empty sound. Each time 
was it enlivened with abundant faith, intense feeling 
of his necessity, and the vehemency of most ardent 
affection; and if the consciousness of the faintness 
of our strength and the coldness of our affections 
should lead us to offer it an hundred times a day in 
this spirit, it would never fail of acceptance. 

1 Can W 16. " Matt. v. 6. ^ Johns. 10. 

1 Nine" times is this petition urged, verses 25, 37, 40, 88, 107, 

149, 154, 156, 159. 

= Compare Matthew VI. 7. 



EXPOSITION OF PSAL3I CXIX. 



160. Thy word is true from the beginning ; and every 
one of thy righteous judgments endureth for 
ever. 

The " loving kindness and the truth of God'' were 
t^vo hearenly notes on which the sweet Psalmist of 
Israel *' loved to dwell : 1 his loving kindness'' in 
giving, and his ''truth'' in fulfilling-~his gTacious 
promises. Indeed the displays of his truth— whether 
to his Church collectively or to his people indi- 
vidually — have always been everyway worthy of him- 
self. Often has his word seemed on the eve of bein^ 
falsified, clearly with the design of a brio:hter and 
more striking display of its faithfulness. The very 
night previous to the close of the four hundred and 
thirty years, Israel was, to all human appearances, as 
far from deliverance as at any former period. But 
the vision was for an appointed time:*'" nothing 
could hasten, nothing could delay it ; for it came to 
'pass at the end of the four hundred and thirty years, 
even the self same day it came to pass, that all the- 
hosts of the Lord went out from the land of Ea^-pt." ^ 
At a subsequent period of their history, the family 
of David appeared upon the point of extinction, 
as if the promise of God would fall to the ground : 
but to exhibit " the nord of God^ as true from the 
beginning,'' a providential, and almost a miraculous, 
interference was manifested. "When Athaliah destroyed 

1 See his character described—" Good and upri-o-ht is the Lord," 
Psalm 5 XT. 8— and mark these perfections pleaded in their com- 
bined connection with his purposes of grace. " Thou wilt perform 
the truth to Jacobs and the mercy to Abraham" — mercy " in the 
original grant— frz/t^ in the subsequent ratification and'pertorm^ 
ejice. Mic. yii.20. Compare Luke i. 72, 73. 

' Hab. ii. 3. s Exodus xii. 41. 

^ Compare 2 Sam. vii. 16. 



VERSE 160. 431 

all the seed-roval of the house of Judah, Joash was 
stolen away, put under a nurse, hid from Athaliah 
in the house of the Lord six years, and ui God's 
appointed time brought forth to the people, as the 
fulfilment of the express promise of God—" Behold 
the kinrfs son shall reign, as the Lord hath said of the 
sms of David." i " Whoso is wise, and will observe 
these things, even they shall understand the lovmg- 
kindness of the Lord." - 

And thus is it in the experience of his own people. 
Not one of them will be found, who, though tempted 
in seasons of despondency to " charge God foolishly," ^ 
has not afterwards, in some unexpected deliverance, 
been led to " set to his seal—" Thij word is true from 
the beginning." The Lord shall judge his people, 
and repent himself for his servants, when he seeth 
that their power is gone, and there is none shut up or 
Igftj'i And how do these recollections put to shame 
the 'suggestions of unbelief, and strengthen our con- 
fidence'^in the prospect— or even in the present en- 
durance of " manifold temptations." 

3Iany however feel it hard to acknowledge the truth 
of God's word. They have been used to indulge the 
pride of their own reasonings, and they scarcely know 
hov%io read the book of God without cavilling. If 
they believe while it is in their hands, their confidence 
continuallv wavers, and they are not ready or prepared 
to give a reason of their faith. Satan has doubtless 
much power to hinder the establishment of their faith. 
Let them not venture into conflict with him with 
armour that thev have not proved. Let them pray 
for a teachable simplicity of faith, by which they may 

1 2 Chron. sxii. 10—12 ; sxiii. 3. 
^ Psalm cvii. 43. 

* Deut. xsxii. 36. Compare 2 Kings xiv. 2d, z:/. 



432 EXPOSITION OF PSALM CXIX. 

receive the Divine testimony— not asking — What 
thinkest thou ? ' —but How readiest thou ? " In this 
spirit—the further they advance — the clearer will be 
their light and the more assured their faith, and if at 
any time they should be again tossed with the 
tempest, they will look to him, who stilleth the storm, 
and there shall be ''a great cahn,''^ Confidence 
simply built upon the word of God will endure the 
storm of earth and hell. 

Yet after all, we may have an outward conviction 
of the truth of the word, sufficient to confute the 
infidel or the sceptic ; and be utterly ignorant of the 
experimental comfort of its truth. But to find, that 

it is all true'' (as the woman of Samaria found of 
the doctrine of Chiist*) — because it answers to our 
convictions, our wants, and our feelings — to know 
that the promises are true, because they have been 
fulfilled in us — this is tasting, feeling, handling — 
tliis is indeed blessedness — this makes the word un- 
speakably precious to us — a treasure to be desired."^ 
To find by our own experience of the comfort of the 
gospel, that we have not followed cunningly- devised 
fables ; " but that it is a faithful saying, and worthy 
of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the 
world to save sinners " ^— this indeed is life fi'om 
the dead." Oh ! how should we seek to attain this 
experimental perception of the truth of God's word I 
The Israelites were not satisfied with inquiring re- 
specting the manna — ^^Tiat is -this?"^ — or with 
discovering that it had descended from heaven ; but 
they gathered it each for himself, and fed upon it as 
their daily bread. Xor will it be of any avail to us 
to prove beyond contradiction, and to acknowledge 

1 Markiv. 39. - John iv. 29. ^ pj-Q^^ -^xi. 20. 

4 I Tim. i. 15. 5 Exodus xvi. 15, margin. 



VERSE 160, 



433 



with the fullest assurance, the truth of God's word, 
unless we thus embrace it, and live upon it as our 
heavenly portion. It is faith alone that can give this 
spiritual apprehension — He that helieveth hath the 
witness in himself J' ^ — But if the word be the truth 
of God ''from the beginning/' it must be eternal 
truth in its character and its results— like its Great 
Author, in every particular, " enduring for ever,'' — 

For ever, Lord, thy word is settled in heaven. 
Thy faithfulness is unto all generations,'' ^ 

Lord ! give unto us that '' precious faith,'' by which 
the acknowledgment of the ^Hruth of thy word from 
the beginning," and its ''endurance for ever," may 
become the spring of continual life and consolation to 
our souls. 

^ I Johnv. 10. ^ Verses 89 90. 



U 



434 



EXPOSITION OF PSALM CXIX. 



PART XXI. 

161. Princes have persecuted me tvithout a cause ; but 
my heart standeth in awe of thy word. 

Such was David's unjust treatment from the hands 
of Sauli — persecuted only from envy at his superior 
excellence- — provoked by repeated and unmerited 
aggravations, and restrained from open and unlawful 
violence only by his heart standing in awe of God^s 
word The Lord forbid," said he on one of these 

occasions, " that I should do this thing unto my 
master, tfie Lord's anointed, to stretch forth my hand 
against him, seeing he is the anointed of the Lord,'' ^ 
This godly fear has always marked the people of 
God. Witness Joseph^ — Moses ^ — Nehemiah,^ and 
the Jews 7^ — and the three Babylonish captive^.^ Jo- 
siah also obtained a special mark of acceptance. 9 
The man that tremhleth at God's word,'' whether he 
be found on the throne or on the dunghill— is the 
man, to whom the Lord **^vdll look." And cer- 
tainly under such circumstances as David's — where 
the wrath of princes and the wrath of God are 
weighed against each other — who can doubt, but that 
it is better to incur the persecution of men by a 
decided adherence to the word of God, than the wrath 
of God, by declining from it ? 

1 Verse 23. 

- 1 Sam. xviii. 8, 28, 29. Comp. Dan. vi, 4, 5. Prov. xxvii. 4. 
3 1 Sam. xxiv. 6. ^ Gen. xxxix. 9. 

^ Heb. xi. 27. ^ Neh. v. 15. 

' Ezraix. 4; x. 3. ^ Dan. iii. 1 6— 18. 

9 2 Chron. xxxiv. 26, 27. Isaiah Ixvi. 2. 



VERSE 161. 435 

Our Saviour, knowing what was in man," had 
clearly warned his disciples against these difficulties, 
and had armed them for the trial. - ^Vhen they 
bring you into the synagogues, and unto magistrates 
and powers, take ye no thought how or what thing ye 
shall answer, or what ye shall say. For the Holy 
Ghost shall teach you in the same hour what ye 
ouo:ht to say.'^i The trial at the first onset proved 
too hard for them : Peter's " heart stood in awe " of 
the persecuting princes,'' and in a moment of tempt- 
ation he disowned his master ; ^ but when - the Spirit 
of power "^^as poured from on high, such was the 
holy awe'' in which himself and his companions 
stood of God's word/' that they declared in the face 
of the whole council— Whether it be right in the 
sight of God to hearken unto you more than unto 
God, judge ye. We ought to obey God rather than 
men."4 I fear God — Colonel Gardiner used to 
say— ^ and I have none else to fear.' Indeed the 
spirit of adoption— the Christian's distinguishing 
character and privilege— will never fail to produce an 
awe of God— a dread of sinning against the tenderest 
Father, of grieving the dearest Friend. And this awe 
of God will naturally extend to his word ; so that we 
shall be more tenderly afraid of disregarding its dic- 
tates, than the most faithful subject of breaking the 
law of his beloved Sovereign. There is nothing 
slavish, nothing legal, in this fear. It is perfectly 
consistent with the freedom, and invariably produc- 
tive of the holiness of the Gospel. It is the very soul 
of religion; the best preservative of our joys and 
privileges and the best evidence of their scriptural 
character. We shall find with David this principle 

1 Luke xii. il, 12. - Matt. xxvi. 69—75. 

3 2Tim. i. 7. ^ . * Actsiv. 19; v. 29. 



436 



EXPOSITION OF PSALM CXIX. 



of special service in times of persecution— to make us 
proof alike against the richest allurements, or the most 
powerful reproach of men, to go beyond the word 
of the Lord to do less or more/'i 

But what must be the state of that heart, when the 
word of the great God— the Creator and Judge of the 
earth — fails to command reverence ! Were the sinner 
to hear a voice from heaven, addressed distinctly to 
himself, we can hardly conceive of obstinacy or in- 
fatuation bold enough to reject it : yet we have a 
more sure word, whereunto we do well that we take 
heed,'^ " so as to receive it with silent awe, to bow 
before it with the most unlimited subjection, and to 
yield ourselves entirely to its holy influence. Let us 
then cherish an awe of this word -/^ and beware of 
taking it up as a common book, of " receiving it as 
the word of man,'^ and not, as it is in truth, the 
word of God," ^ If it does not stand infinitely higher 
in our estimation than all — even the best — books of 
man, we have no just perception of its value, nor can 
we expect any communication of its treasures to our 
hearts. Let us remember the holiness of God stamped 
upon its every sentence. ^ And let us cultivate the 
spirit of Cornelius and his company in our regard 

^ ^ Numb. xxii. 18. - 2 Pet. i. 19. M Thess. ii. 13. 

^ The Jews' frontispiece to their great Bible is Jacob's expres- 
sion of fear and astonishment upon his vision of God at Bethel — - 
" How dreadful is this place ! This is none other but the house 
of God, and this is the gate of heaven ! " 'So ought we,' — as 
Dr. Owen remarks upon this — ' to look upon the word with a 
holy awe and reverence of the presence of God in it.' 

* 1 would advise you all, that come to the reading or hearing 
of this book, which is the word of God, the most precious jewel> 
and most holy reUct that remaineth upon earth, that ye bring with 
you the fear of God, and that ye do it with all due reverence, and 
use your knowledge thereof, not to vain glory of frivolous dispu- 
tation, but to the honour of God, increase of virtue, and edifica- 
tion both of yourselves and others.' Cranmer's Judgment of 
Scripture, p. 20. 



VERSE 162. 



437 



for its important message—'' Now therefore are we 
all here present before God, to hear all things that are 
commanded thee of God."^ 



162. / rejoice at thy word, as one that Jindeih great 

spoil. 

The ''awe'' in which we should stand of God's 
word,'' so far from hindering our enjoyment of it, is 
as we have just hinted, the most suitable preparation 
for its most delightful enjoyment. In receiving every 
word of it as the condescending message from him, 
before whom angels veil their faces, we shall be led to 
rejoice at it, as those that find great spoil" Often 
had David found '' great spoil" as the fruit of his 
victories but greater joy had he never found in his 
richest spoil, than he had now discovered in the word 
of God. By this figure the joy of the world at the 
advent of Christ is illustrated—'' They joy before 
thee— as men rejoice when theij divide the spoil" ^ 
The expression therefore was evidently intended to 
convey no common degree of delight. If then the 
saints of old from their scanty portion of the word 
could so largely enrich their souls, can we, who are 
favoured with the entire revelation of God forbear to 
acknowledge—" the lines are fallen unto us in pleasant 
places, yea, we have a goodly heritage ? " ^ This ex- 
pressive image may remind us of the inward conflict 
to be endured in acquiring the spoils of this precious 

1 Acts X. 33. On this particular a hint from a heathen may 
not be unworthy of our remark. Ehud said to Eglon, 1 have a 
message from God unto thee. And he arose out of his seatr 
Judges iii. 20. . 

2 At Ziglag— i Sam. xxx. 19, 26—31. From the children of 

Ammon, 2 Sam. xii. 30. a ^ ^ - t> 

3 Isaiah ix. 3. ^ Psalm xvi. 6. 

U 3 



438 EXPOSITION OF PSALM CXIX. 

word. It is so contrary to our natural taste and 
temper, that habitual self-denial and struggle with 
the indisposition of the heart can alone enable us to 
"find the spoil.'' But what " great spoil is divided 
as the fruit of the conflict ! How rich and abundant 
is the recompense of the good soldier of Jesus 
Christ/^ who is determined through the power of the 
Spirit to endure hardness/' until he overcome the 
reluctance of his heart to this spiritual duty ! He shall 
rejoice'' in finding great spoil," Sometimes — as 
the spoils with which the lepers enriched themselves 
in the Syrian cam.p i — it may be found unexpectedly. 
Sometimes we see the riches and treasures contained 
in a passage or doctrine, long before we can make it 
our own. And often when we gird ourselves to the 
conflict wi'th indolence, and wanderings, under the 
weakness of our spiritual perceptions and the power 
of unbelief; many a prayer, and many a sigh is 
sent up for Divine aid, before we are crowned with 
victory, and are enabled, as the fruit of our conquest 
joyfully to appropriate the word to our present need 
and distress. 

It is evident however, that from a cursory, super- 
ficial reading of the word of God, no such fruit can 
be anticipated. When therefore the flesh or the world 
have deadened our delight in the word of God, and 
taken from us this great spoil," should not our 
sorrow be as great in our loss, as was our former joy 
in our triumph ? Why do we not regain our spoils ? 
Because we do not feel their loss. O, then, since 
there are such treasures found and enjoyed in this field 
of conflict, let us not lose our interest in them by the 
indulgence of presumption, heartlessness, or despond- 

^ 2 Kings vii. 8. 



VERSE 163. 439 
encv. Before we attempt to read, let us put up an 
earnest prayer, under the sense of utter helplessness to 
perform one spiritual act, for the powerful help and 
Almighty teaching of the Spirit of God. Then we 
shall persevere with unconquerable and unwearied 
vigour, and not fail to share in the blessed fruits of 
victory-views of a Saviour's dying love-an interest 
in the precious blessings of the cross-" great spoil" - 
" unsearchable riches." ^ 

163. I hate and abhor lying ; hut thy law do I love. 

We can neither " stand in awe of God's word," 
nor - rejoice at it," unless we abhor all the contrary 
ways of our own hearts and of the world. And here 
lies the spiritual conflict. For so opposed are our 
natural affections to the character and will of God 
that we love what God hates, and we hate what God 
loves The new principle and bias however, which is 
..iven to the heart, as directly falls in with the dictates 
of God's law, as it had before acted in resistance to it. 
"Lying" is now "hated and abhorred" as contrary 
to " a God of truth ; " and the " law " is now " loved" 
as the reflection of his image, and the manifestation 
of his will. David had before prayed to have " lying 
ways removed from him," and a love for the law of God 
imparted. ^ He here shews that these ways had been 
removed from him by his utter detestation of them, 
and that a renewed inclination to the law had been 

given to him. 

To have avoided " lying" and to have practised 
the law might have been sufficient for the regulation of 
his outward conduct. But his was the religion of the 



1 Eph. ill. S. 



2 See Verse 29. 



440 EXPOSITION OF PSALM CXIX. 

heart— not meant only to controul his actions; but to 
renew his habits, motions, tempers, and taste. It was 
not therefore enough for him to refrain from lyino- 
or even to manifest a disinclination to eY-he mZt 
" hate and abhor " i it. Xor was external confo,-mitp 
—or even a general interest in the law his standard— he 
must "love" and delight in it. If sin was counted 
common-fashionable-venial-profitable or pleasant • 
it reproach and contempt were cast upon the law of 
God-this stopped him not. Every sin-if it was 
only a hair's breadth deviation from the rule-was in 
his eyes hateful, defiling, damning. He would " resist 
unto blood, striving against it." 2 Every act, desire 
and habit of conformity -with whatever shame it might 
be attended, was his joy and delight. Such— Chr'is- 
tian-should be our standard. Lord ! humble us in 
the daily sense of deviation and defect. Vouchsafe 
to us larger desires, advancing conformity to thv 
perfect rule. 

^ye\\ had it been for Eve and for her children, had 
she turned from the tempter's lie with the determi- 
nation that is here exhibited, s But-" Ye shall not 
surely die"-hm from that fatal moment been a most 
effectual instrument in captivating unwary souls into 
his snare. So plausible is it in itself, so affreeable to 
the desires and inclinations of the natural he"art ; that 
it is readily cherished, even where the wi-etched victims 
are assured in their first contact with the temptation 
that its " deceit is falsehood." But they do not " hate 

' *u " lyin^ " he intended to include 

~^ I ^ I ^^l'^ °' '^'^ 'i'^^ct deviations from truth of 

^-hich he had himself been guilty- Compare 1 Sam. Ji ^ Zitl 
i^T ''w '"'f 7'* Achish, 1 Sam. xxi. 13 ; xxvii. 10 burls 
' f *° ^^hatever should be found 

m any shape, or form, or degree, inconsistent with the truth of 
God. Compare on verse 29. <= "uu. ui 

'Heb.xii. 4. 3 Gen.iii.4-6. 



VERSE 163. 441 
and abhor it ; they do not flee from it, as a concern 
for the honour of God and their own safety would lead 
them ; and therefore, as the fruit of their delusion, 
and the punishment of their unfaithfulness, they are 
eventually given up to believe it,"'i Oh! if we 
are ever ^tempted by the flattery and allurements of 
the world, let us only mark the opposition of their 
standard, taste, maxims, and pursuits to the truth 
of God, and we shall probably turn away with hatred 
and abhorrence. 

Those who are " made overseers of the purchased 
flock'' 2 of Christ— yea, all who earnestly contend 
for the faith,which was once delivered unto the saints " ^ 
—will anxiously watch any deterioration of doctrme 
or principle— any deviation from the simplicity of the 
gospel, and brand it as a lie. I have not written 
unto you''— said the venerable Apostle— 5ecawse ye 
know not the truth, hut because ye know it, and that no 
lie is of the truth, Who is a liar but he that denieth 
that Jesus is the Christ ? " ^ And the licentious abuse 
of the doctrines of gTace will be instantly abhorred by 
the Christian's heart as the suggestion of the Father 
of lies?— What shall we say then? Shall loe con- 
tinue in sin, that grace may abound ? God forbid ! " ^ 
Believer ! would you have your hatred and abhor- 
rence of every kind of lying yet further deepened ? 
Would you summon every passion of the soul — " in- 
dignation, vehement desire, zeal, revenge " 6— against 
it? Then learn to ''abhor'' it, not only as your 
enemy, but as God's. ' Pray that the arrow of con- 
viction maybe dipped in the blood of Christ; and 
however deep and painful be the wound, it cannot be 

Thess. ii. 11. ' Acts xx. 28. ^ Jude 3. 
^ 1 John ii. 21, 22. ^ Rom. vi. 1, 2. ^2 Cor. vii. U. 
7 Compare Psalm cxxxix. 21, 22. 
U 5 



442 EXPOSITION OF PSALM CXIX. 

mortal. Mortal indeed it will be to the sin, but 
healing to the soiiL Pray that your sorrow for sin 
may be soothed by a sense of reconciliation ; for never 
will your hatred of it be so perfect, as when you feei 
yourself sheltered from its everlasting curse. ^ To lie 
before your Saviour as one of his redeemed people^ 
and to wash his feet with your tears of contrition, will 
be your highest and happiest privile2;e on this side 
heaven. In this spirit and daily posture you will 
most clearly manifest the inseparable connexion of a 
hatred of lying vanities and lying ways with a love 
for the law of God. 

164. Seven times a-day do I praise thee, because of thy 
righteous judgments. 

The man of God had just spoken of his fear, joy, 
hatred and love. He now speaks of the expression 
of his love in praise. And indeed it is the mixture 
of praise with prayer in this psalm, that makes it so 
complete an exhibition of Christian experience. Early 
and late, and habitually throughout the day have we 
seen this man of God ''give himself to prayer,''^ 
And here it appears that his spirit of supplication,'' 
in strict conformity with the Apostolical rule, was 
invariably mingled '' ivith thanksgiving''^— '' Seven 
times'^ a day do I praise theeJ' If, in the spirit of 
love we feel it ''good for us to draw near to God''^ 
it will be as needless to define the frequency of our 
praises, as to prescribe a limitation to our visits to a 
beloved friend, to whom our obligations were daily 

1 Compare Ezekiel xvi. 63 ; xxxvi. 31 ; xx.43. 
" See on Verses 147, 148. 3 Compare Phil. iv. 6. 

^ Seven times — that is — continually. Prov. xxiv. 16. 
Psalm Ixxiii. 28. 



VERSE 164. 443 
increasing. Love will answer every scruple, and 
banish all apprehensions of offence, on which ever side 
of the boundary we might happen to move. Young 
Christians indeed may sometimes unwarily bring them- 
selves into " bondage," in constraining their consciences 
to set times for duty, the frequency of which may 
entrench either upon the circumstances of the outward 
man, or the weakness of the inward man. Though our 
rule of service is not to be measured by our indolence, 
yet it must be accommodated to those daily engage- 
ments of our individual calling, which, when " done 
as to the Lord," i constitute as real and necessary a 
part of our religion, as the more spiritual sacrifices 
of prayer and praise. If any particular time (beyond 
the Sabbath employment, and " the morning and 
evening sacrifice") is observed, because it is the time- 
however wearied our spirits may be, or however the 
occasion may interfere with immediate duty ; we have 
forgotten the weighty instruction of one well-qualified 
to speak—" Bodily exercise profiteth little ;""- and we 
must " go and learn what that meaneth— I will have 
mercy and not sacrifice." 3 It will however be usually 
found, that gi-owth in grace will bring with it an 
habitual relish for spiritual intercourse with God, and 
will enable the young Christian to bring the spirit 
of his intercourse into the general mould of his Chris- 
tian profession : and thus will each duty of the day 
find its proper place. As his views become more 
solid and settled, his services will become more free, 
and his obedience more evangelical. 

But the formalist— considering " seven times a-day," 
to be an infrinaement of the sacred canon—" Be not 
righteous ofemwc/." * -pays his customary service 



444 EXPOSITION OF PSALM CXIX. 

twice a-day. He says his prayers, and he savs his 
praises too, and his conscience slumbers again. ' And 
alas ! there are times of slumber with the Chi'istian 
when he little differs from him. Oh ! let us be alarmed 
at every symptom of such a state, and - find no rest 
to our spirit/^ until we have regained some measure of 
this frame of hearty and overflowing praise. If there 
be a heavenly nature, there must be^a heavenly work. 
Tongue and heart should be set on fire by love. 
Thus we will go to our work— whatever it may be— 
and sing at it. 

But the Christian sometimes feels that he has no 
heart, and he almost fears no right to praise. He 
has no sensible token of love to call him forth : and 
therefore he suffers his harp to hang upon the 
willows ; " , nor does he care to take it down, even 
to ^' sing one of the Lord's songs hi this strange 
land.'' 1 Let him remember, that the service of praise 
IS the most successful means of resistance to the 
despondency of unbelief. Many have found with 
Bunyan — ^When I believe and sing, my doubting 
ceases.' Often has the act or even the attempt to 
praise proved a quickening ordinance to overcome 
the complaint of dulness in prayer. Endeavour, 
therefore, to bring to mind some of your spiritual 
or even temporal mercies. Or if recollection fails 
you, open your Bible; turn to some subject of praise, 
such as the song of the Angels at the birth of our 
Saviour, 2 or the song of the Redeemed to the honour 
of the Lamb. 3 Have you no part or mterest in it ? 
Do you not need the Saviour ? Can you be happy 
without him ? Then inquire, and feel, and try, 
whether you cannot give ^' thanks unto God for his 



1 Psalm cxxxvii. 2, 4. " Luke ii. 13, 14. 3 j^gy^ ^ 



VERSE 164. 445 

unspeakable gift." ^ Peradventure your notes may 
rise into praise, and in the excitement of praise, 
prayer will again mingle itself with its wonted enjoy- 
ment. It is no less your folly than your sin to 
drench your spirits in continual depression, which 
unfits you for the exercise of every Christian duty 
and privilege. If we need assistance for this blessed 
work, how fully do the Liturgical services of our 
Church provide matter to sustain the elevation of the 
soul heavenwards I Language better adapted for 
strengthening the weak endeavour of the aspiring soul 
will not readily be found ; consecrated as we may 
almost consider it to be, in the remembrance of its 
acceptable use by a throng of the Lord's favoured 
people during successive generations, now united to 
the general assembly above, and worshipping with 
everlasting acceptance before the throne of God and 
the Lamb." 

The Lord's righteous judgments,'' or his decrees 
and declarations respecting his Church, were the main 
subject of the Psalmist's praise. They occupied his 

midnight," as well as his daily song ; - and often 
since have they called forth the expression of adoring 
thankfulness in the Church of God— Lord, thou 
art mij GotZ— said the enraptured prophet in the name 
of the church— / will exalt thee, I will praise thy 
name ; for thou hast done ivonderful things ; thy 
counsels of old are faithfulness and truths ^ Inscruta- 
ble indeed they may sometimes appear ; and opposed 
to our best prospects of happiness ; yet the language 
of faith in the darkest hour will be^'^ We know 
that all things work together for good to them that 
love God, to them who are the called according to his 



1 2Cor. ix. 15. ^ Verse 6^2. 



3 Isaiah xxv. 1 . 



446 EXPOSITION OF PSALM CXIX. 

purpose/' 1 But neither seven times a-day," nor 
seventy times seven/' will satisfy us in heaven. 
Then our song— even 'Uhe song of Moses and the 
Lamb ''—will still be— the Lord's righteous judg- 
7nents ; 2 and for this ever " new song the harps of 
God will never be unstrung, and never out of tune, 
throughout an eternity of praise.^ But a moment, 
and we shall be engaged in this heavenly employ — 
no reluctancy of the spirit— no weariness of the flesh. 
Every moment is hastening on this near— this sweet 
—this overwhelmingly glorious —prospect. Blessed 
be God ! 

165. Great peace have they which love thy law, and 
nothing shall offend them. 

Every feature of the covenant of grace bears some 
resemblance to the nature of the covenant, full of 
grace, peace, and love. Two of the agents in the 
covenant are fitly represented by the lamb and the 
dove— emblems of peace. The tendency of its prin- 
ciples is first pure, then peaceable:' The end of 
it will be peace— universal peace : They shall not 
hurt or destroy in all my holy mountain:'^ The 
present enjoyment of it is peace—" great peace ''—the 
heritage of those, " ivhich love the law of God:' 

Christian ! Have not you discovered the connexion 
of peace with love for the whole revealed will of God ? 
Looking at it as the laio of truth— was not its dis- 
turbance of your peace of self-satisfaction and self- 
delusion the first step to the attainment of solid peace ? 
You learned to see yourself as God sees you. Every 
fresh view humbled you more than ever. Your 

1 Rom. viii. 29. 2 j^g^^ ^^-^ 3^ 4^ 3 3^ 

James iii. 17. ^ isaiah xi. 6—9. Compare ii. 4. 



VERSE 165. 447 
dissatisfaction exercised you in an anxious and diligent 
search for true peace. And then, looking at it again 
as " the law of faith" here is your ground of peace 
laid open- Your way to God is clear-your accept- 
ance free— your confidence assured— your communion 
heavenly. " Being justified by faith, you have peace 
with God through our Lord Jesus Christ;" yea-you 
are " filled with peace, all peace in believing " i And 
have not you equal reason to " love this law " as a 
law of obedience 1 Here you have your question 
answered—" Lord ! what wilt thou have me to do ? 
Let " this word dwell in you richly in all wisdom ; " 
and it mil be your daily directory of life and conduct. 
You will have a taste to " delight in it after the inner 
man." ^ Walking in the light of it, you will go^ on 
to the full "enjoyment of peace,"-" Taking 
cheerfully your Saviour's " yoke upon you, and learn- 
ing of him, you will" ever " find rest unto your soul." 
" All his paths are peace." * 

Professor ! need you be told what you lose by 
your indulged indiff"erence to the law of God ? Does 
not your own conscience tell you, that you are a 
stranger to this peace-this " great peace ? " A secret 
root of idolatry cankers the principles of peace. 
Notions will not bring it to you. Nothing but the 
vital spirit of godliness— the " love for God's law''— 
"the truth received in the love of it "-will realize 
the blessino'. 

Young Christian! be not disheartened, though 
your "love to the law" be so weak, interrupted, 
clouded, that sometimes you are led to fear, that you 
have no love at all. Do you not mourn over the cold- 
ness of your love ? do you not desire to love ? Seek 



448 EXPOSITION OF PSALM CXIX. 

to know more of the constraining influence of the love 
of Christ. If you complain now that your chariot 
wheels, like those of the Egyptians, drive heavily; 
you will then move, like the chariots in the prophet's 
vision, ^^upon wheels and upon wings." i At least 
you are on the way to peace, if not in the actual enjoy- 
ment of it : it cannot be far oflp. A sense of recon- 
ciliation with God will soon visit you,^ issuing in a 
quiet acquiescence of soul under his wise and gracious 
dispensations ? 3 The Lord is your shepherd ; " 
and, dwelling near the shepherd's tent," ^^you shall 
not want." 4 j>fothing comes to you without his 
appointment; and whatever he takes away was only 
what he had first given, and leaves you nothing but to 
say— Blessed be the name of the Lord." 5 Whatever 
he lays upon you is infinitely less than you deserve, 
and with the Fatherly design ^Uo do you good at the 
latter end. "6 Whatever he gives you is ^edice—" great 
peace''-^^' perfect peacer ^ and though at best-as 
to Its actual and perceptible enjoijment—di chequered 
gift, yet— as the earnest of that peace into which 
the righteous shall enter, when taken away from the 
evil to come " 8_it is an incalculable blessing. 

The steadfastness of our profession is a most impor- 
tant fruit of this blessing of peace— Nothing shall 
offend them,'' The daily cross, 9 the humbling 
doctrine,io the fiery trial n-which, by offending the 
professor, detect the unsoundness of his heart— are to 
the faithful lover of the precepts of God the source 
of continual strength and comfort. Those who were 
stumbled by tribulation or persecution, were they who 

1 Compare Exod. xiv. 25, with Ezek. i. 15, 23. 
Comp. Col. i. 20, 21. 3 p^ij^ 7^ 4 pg^im xxiii. 1. 

' ^ Deut. viii. 16. ^ Isaiah xxvi. 3. 

' Ibid. Ivii. 1, 2. 9 Markx. 21, 22. 

John vi. 60, 65, 66. n Matt. xiii. 21. 



VERSE 165. 449 
had no root in themselves/' i Hence therefore, there 
was no love in their hearts— consequently no peace in 
their experience, and no stability or perseverance in 
their course. The frequency of such cases in a day 
of profession is a subject of constant and most painful 
observation. A course of religion is commenced 
under the impulse of momentary excitement— like 
'^a reed shaken by the wind "—unable to withstand 
the power of temptation. The first storm beats down 
all resolutions, that were not formed upon the convic- 
tion of utter helplessness, and in entire dependence 
upon the sufficiency of Divine grace.^ But the power 
of genuine love will prove our safeguard against all 
grounds of offence. The Gospel has been embraced 
on a fair calculation of the cost, from a deep sense 
of its value, and from a spiritual perception of its 
character and application to our wants. For instance 
—we hear objections taken to the doctrine of the total 
depravity of man. But love to the law of God'' — 
moulding our minds into its Divine impression— will 
remove all ground of offence. The pride of man's 
wisdom revolts from the doctrine of the cross and the 
freeness of the grace of God. But we love it as a 
part of the " law of faith." It suits our case. It 
answers our necessities— and therefore here also 
- nothing offends us,'' Thu§ whatever be the ground 
of offence- whether from the Church or from the 
world— whether from Satan or from himself—^' love 
to the law of God" enables the believer instead of 
being ^nossed to and fro'^ by the restless power of 
conviction— to - make straight paths for his feet 
throughout his heavenly pilgrimage. If ever his 
cross be grievous, he seeks from the Lord a quiet and 

1 Mark iv. 17. Comp. John xv. 5. 2 Cor. xii. 9. 

' 3 Heb.^xii. 13, with Prov. iv. 25—27. 



4oO EXPOSITION OF PSALM CXIX. 

submissive spirit; and thus, in patience possessing 
his soul/' he finds - the yoke easy and the burden 
light/' 1 The diiBculties of his path serve to exercise 
and strengthen his faith, and to add fresh testimony to 
the faithfulness of the promise. Whether therefore 
his way be dark or light, he is at peace ; and all will 
end at last in a richer enjojTnent of his Saviour's love, 
and in a clearer testimony in his own heart, that " the 
work of righteousness"— of love to the law of his 
God "— - shall be peace ; and the effect of righteous- 
ness, quietness and assurance for ever." 2 



166. Lord, I have hoped for thy salvation, and done 
thy commandments. 

The experience of the ''great peace'' that is con- 
nected with - the love of God's law," is at once the 
fruit of faith, and the motive of obedience. And 
the enjoyment of it leads the child of God to give 
renewed expression to his faith and devotedness to^his 
service. " In Christ Jesus neither circumcision availeth 
any thing, nor uncircumcision ; but faith which 
worketh by love." 3 This is the characteristic of 
the Xew Testament Church. Xow mark the same 
principle and the same object of faith m the Old 
Testament believer—- I have hoped for thy salvation" 
—and the same working of faith— I have - done thy 
commandments:' -Walked they not in the same 
spirit ? Walked they not in the same steps ? " Faith 
is the exercise of the soul in a sense of need, in desire, 
and in trust. Faith goes to God on the gi'ound of the 
promise— hope in the expectation of the thing pro- 
mised. Thus hope implies the operation of faith. 

^ Lukexxi. 19. Matt. xi. 30. 
- Isaiah xxxii. 17. s 



VERSE 166. 451 
It appropriates to itself the object of faith. And it 
is a sure evidence that our hope is " a good hope 
throu-h grace" i-such as " maketh not ashamed - 
—when we are enabled to take hold of the promises 
of faith, and to stay our souls upon their " everlastmg 
consolation." Conscious unworthiness may give a 
trembling feebleness to the hand of faith; but the 
feeblest apprehension of one of the least of the pro- 
mises of the sospel assures us of our interest in them 
all Why mav we not set all the fulness of the 
covenant befo/e the weakest as well as before the 
strongest believer, and proclaim to both with equal 
freedom the triumphant challenge-" Mlio shall lay 
any thing to the charge of God's elect ? Who rs ne 
that condemneth ? " ^ Every believer is alike interested 
in the -ospel of arace " There is no difference" in the 
righteousness of the gospel, v^-hich is " the righteous- 
ness of God"— nor in the imputation of it, which is 
" vnto all and upon all them that believe (having 
respect— -/iof to the degree, but to the principle of faith) 
-nor in the means of its application, which in all cases- 
is " hy faith of Jesus Christ"— nor in the need of the 
blessing. " W sinwerf " without difference. All 
therefore are justified without difference.* The only 
difference regards the strength or iveakness of the 
faith, bv which the righteousness is more or less 
distinctly appropriated, and its consequent blessmgs 
enjoyed. Xo soul however can sink into perdition, 
that grasps the promise of Christ with the hand of 
faith, be that hand ever so weak and tremblmg; 
thouoh, if the promise did not hold us more firmly by 
its unchangeableness, than we hold it by our faith, 
who could ever attain the blessing ? 

3 Ibid, viii.33,-34. . Mbid.ui.22, 23. 



452 EXPOSITION OF PSALM CXIX. 

Nor let the believer be supposed to possess only a 
transient interest in the hope of the gospel. For, 
though our perception of it may be subject to much 
interruption, yet is it not still in the Bible -in the 
covenant of God— in the heart of God ? And is it 
not constantly renewed to every successive act of 
faith? Hence therefore the repetition of the same 
act of faith is equally necessary every moment, as at 
the first moment of our spiritual life. Whatever be 
our standing or experience in the gospel, we must 
exercise in every fresh coming to the Saviour the 
same ''hope in God's salvation'' flowing from the 
principle of faith, as he who is making his first 
approach to Christ. Nay it is probable, that we may 
find the same or even greater difficulty than was felt 
at the beginning. For who has not found the diffi- 
culty of making application to Christ fearfully in- 
creased from the circumstance of the actings of faith 
not having been habitual ? If the habit of faith is not 
cultivated, the operation of the principle will on 
surprisals of temptation be materially weakened. But 
the more faith is regarded as the breathing of the 
soul, and the more constantly it is exercised in the 
successive occasions of every moment's need ; the less 
perplexity and confusion will be experienced, when 
some special communication of strength, or some 
distinct application of a promise, is required. 

Now is not your experience, believer, familiar with 
such an illustration as this ? You are exercised with 
wandering, defiling imaginations. You are distressed. 
You struggle against them, and again and again 
are overcome. You know the promise. You are 
acquainted with the remedy. But - the shield of 
faith " has been laid by. You have therefore to seek 
It when you want it at hand for the use of the present 



VERSE 166. 453 
moment; and thus you lie powerless, at a distance 
from the cure, instead of being able to brmg your 
sin at once to Jesus-' Lord, this is my trouble ; 
this is the "plag.ie of my heart ;"" but speak the 
word only, and my servant shall be healed.- from 
the neglect of the cultivation of the habit of faith, 
the energy of the principle itself, and - the conh- 
dence and rejoicing of hope""- flowing from it, are 

materially impaired. . , r 

But on what ground is this " hope for the Lord s 
salvation » built ? On his faithfulness, not on our 
sincerity-on his promises, not on our frames-on 
his unchangeableness, not on our constancy. It is 
built-not on the work of grace in us, but on the 
work of Christ for us-a work, which has satisfied 
every claim, provided every security, and pledged 
all the Divine perfections on our behalf— a work 
so finished and complete, that all the difficulties 
of salvation on the part of God are removed, and the 
sinner finds no hindrance in the way but himselt ; 
while he is warranted, though covered with guilt 
and defilement, to apply for full, immediate, and 
unconditional forgiveness. What then hinders the 
instant reception of the privilege, but disbelief of the 
record ? and this-which dares to " make God a 
liar " i-must not be, as is too often the case, lamented 
as an infirmity, (except, indeed, in cases of consti- 
tutional weakness) but watched, prayed against, and 
resisted, as a deep and aggTavated sin. The present 
enjoyment of the blessing is also marred by lookmg 
the fruits of faith (contrition, love, ddigence, &c.) 
as prerequisites for believing, instead of looking to 
the object of faith, to put away our sin, and to produce 

. Matt. viii. 8. I Heb iii. 6, 14. 

3 Ibid. vi. 17. 18. 4ijohnv.lO. 



454 EXPOSITION OF PSALM CXIX. 

these fruits in us. TMs not only binds our sin upon 
us, but robs God of his honour ; and, whilst it pre- 
vents the descent of gTace into our souls, casts reflec- 
tion upon His wisdom and grace, who has laid the 
foundation of a sinner's hope on his own dear Son, i 
irrespective of any warrant of faith in himself. We 
want to be enlivened with sensible comfort as a ground 
for our believing in Christ; or if we look for it from 
faith, it is from faith as an act (in which respect it is 
no more a proper ground for comfort than any other 
grace) ; instead of looking for it in and from Him in 
whom we believe; and thus we not only lose the peace 
and joy we are seeking, but we lose it by our mistaken 
way of seeking it. 

The fulness of Christ, and the promises of God in 
him, are the alone basis of a full assurance of salvation : 
and this basis is equally firm at all times, and under 
all circumstances. The Apostle says to believers— 
" Ye are complete in Him." Your title is as perfect 
—your interest as secure as ever it will be at the 
day of " the redemption of the purchased possession." » 
—Doubting soul ! let not then a sense of unwor- 
thiness paralyse your faith. As a guilty sinner, you 
are invited. As a willing sinner, you are welcome. 
As a believing sinner, you are assured. ^Yhy hesitate 
then to " lay hold on eternal life ? " Is it presump- 
tion in the drowning man to attempt to swim to the 
rock of safety ? ^Yhy then should not the sinking 
soul cast itself upon " the Rock of Ages " Lord, 
I have hoped for thy salvation." 

Believer ! " Behold ! "— saith your Lord—" I come 
quickly— hold that fast which thou hast, that no man 
take thy crown." " Hold fast your confidence and 



' Isaiah sxviii. 16. = Col. ii, 10. ^ Epj,. i. 14. 



VEKSE 166. 455 
the rejoicing of your hope."^-This is not of the 
triflin- importance that some Christians of a low 
standard seem to imagine. An established confidence 
oucrht to result from, and to bear witness to, your 
interest in the Lord's salvation. ^ For without it- 
you have no relief from the spirit of bondage-no 
enlargement in Christian duties-no enjoyment of 
Christian privileges-no " gTOWth in grace and in the 
knowledge of the Saviour"— no honoured usefulness 
in the Church of God-" The things which remain 
will be ready to die." ^ Rest not then satisfied with 
an occasional gleam of light and joy, while your 
horizon is overcast with doubts and fears. Waste not 
that time in heartless complaints, that would be far 
better employed in a vigorous habit of faith. Live 
above frames and feelings upon this glorious truth- 
Christ has undertaken for me. Let your dependence 
upon him be exercised in importunate and persevering 
supplications. " Give all diligence "-at all times- 
in all ways-private and public—" instant in season 
and out of season." Thus "an entrance into" the. 
joy, peace, and glory of " the everlasting kingdom 
of our Lord and Saviour will be richly ministered 
unto you." * You shall be released from the prison- 
house of despondency, and shall breathe the free 
atmosphere of adoption and heavenly love. 

But remember, that this " assurance of hope" even 
in its weakest and lowest influence is a practical prin- 
ciple. " Every man that hath this hope in Him puri- 
fieth himself, even as he is pure."^ It is no inactive 
principle, but a spring of life in perpetual motion— 
" / have done thy commandments:' All obedience 

1 Rev. iii. 11. Heb. iii. 6, 14. 
2 See Heb iii. 6. Whose house are we— i/tt'e, &c. ib. 14. 
3 Rev. iii. 2. 2 Peter 1.5— 11. ' 1 Johnui.3. 



456 EXPOSITION OF PSALM CXIX. 

that springs not from this source is -to say the least 
—of a low and legal character— the fruit of self-will 
self-righteousness, self-sutEciency. Evangelical obedi ' 
ence can only flow from Evangelical faith and hope 
Love to Christ catches fire from the perception of his 
ove to us. Without this perception, all is weariness, 
_ toil, and travail of soul in his service-duty, not pri 
vilege-constraint, not delight-conscience, not love 
Hence the most assured believers will be the most 
devoted servants of their Master. " The joy of the 
Lord"-" the joy of faith," of acceptance, of com- 
munion-" is their strength." i They live by faith 
and as they believe, they love-they deny themselves 
—they lay themselves out for their Master's work- 
they conquer all that oppose their progress. 

We connot therefore " do his commandments" with- 
out " a hope for his salvation." For only in propor- 
tion as we have assured our title to the promises of the 
Gospel, can we take hold of them-plead them-or 
be supported by them. When therefore our hope is 
indistinct, we are almost left to our own unassisted 
resources-and our course will probably be in the 
end that of " perpetual backsliding." Active devo- 
tedness flows from assured acceptance. 2 Where there 
IS no certainty, there can be little love, little delight, 
little diligence. * 

If then we are ever ready either to suspect the 
reality of our " hope for God's salvation," or to 
refuse its consolations-let us-to remedy this evil- 
keep our eye fixed on Christ as its ground, and on 
fruitfulness m good works as its proper evidence. 
Ihus shall we ourselves become more established; 
and others, beholding in us the power of our Christian 



^ Neh. viii. 10. 



2 See 1 Cor. xv. 58. 



VERSE 166. 457 

hope, will be led to " take our skirt— saying---^ We 
will go with you ; for we have heard that God is with 
you/ " 1 

1 Zech. viii. 23. The Writer, having ventured strongly to 
enforce the duty and privilege of Christian assurance— deems it 
right to give an explicit statement of what appears to him the 
Scriptural view of this much controverted subject. That a 
sense of complete acceptance with God grounded upon the Divme 
testimony is attainable— he has no doubt. The "covenant 
ordered in all things and sure'* (2 Sam. xxiii. 5.) offers ample 
warrant for the most assured confidence. The promises of this 
covenant are full, free, multiplied, adapted to all possible diversity 
ofcases— attested by the oath and seal of God for this declared 
end— "the full assurance of hope"— the ''strong consolation" 
—of his people. (Heb. vi, 11—18.) The instructions of our 
Lord and his Apostles had the same blessed end m view. (John 
XV 11 ; xvi. 33 ; 1 John v. 13.) The design and efficacy of his 
atonement— as contrasted with the weakness of the legal ser^^ces 
—was, to make his people " perfect as pertaining to the con^ 
science^' (Heb. ix. 9, with x. 14.) His people under both 
dispensations have ever maintained this sense of appropriation 
and conscious security. (Job xix. 25. Psalm xvnu 1. Cant, 
ii. 16; vii. 10. 2 Tim. i. 12. 1 John iv. 16; v. 19, 20.) Its 
basis is ground common to all, (Rom. viii. 35, 38, 39, with 31— 
34.) The want of it seems to be evidently reproved. (2 Cor. 
xiii. 5 ) Exhortations to press forward to it are frequently given. 
(Heb. vi. 11. 2 Peter i. lb.) Faith. (Ephes. i. 13. Heb. vi. 17, 
18.)— obedience, (Isaiah xxxii. 17. John xiv. 21—23. 1 John 
II 3^ 5,)— love, (1 John iii. 14, 18—21 ; iv. 7,)— diligence, . 
(Heb.vi. 11. 2 Peter i= 5— 11,)— the gift of the Spirit, (Rom. 
viii 16. 1 John iii. 24,)— are distinctly pointed out as the means 
of its attainment. Now if these means are matters of conscious- 
ness, then must the blessing of assurance be considered a war- 
ranted Christian privilege, and as such the exhibition of it is 
highly needful for the conviction of the professor— the excitement 
of^the slumbering— and the encouragement of the weak. ^ 
We have indeed already observed the high consideration of this 
privilege, from the enlargement of heart, peace and joy, con- 
sequent upon it, and the spiritual discomfort and unprofitableness 
resulting from the want of it. We need only further illustrate 
this point, by alluding to the elevated support in suffering, (Job 
xix. 21— 25. 2 Tim. i. 12,) and in the prospect of eternity, (2 
Cor. V. 1. 2 Tim. iv. 7, 8,)— derived from this source. 

At the same time however the Writer cannot, with many excel- 
lent men, so identify assurance with the principle of faith, as to 
conclude all to be unbelievers, that are destitute of it. So far 
indeed we must concede, that it springs from faith, and grows 
upon no other root. For the obedience, love, and diligence \vitn 
which it is connected are the fruits of faith. ^'The promise of 

X 



458 



EXPOSITION OF PSALM CXIX. 



167. My soul hath kept thy testimonies ; and I love 
them exceedingly.--.i6s. I have kept thy pre^ 
cepts and thy testimonies ; for all my ways are 
before thee. 

The likeness of God upon the soul is not a dis- 
torted image. Every thing is beautiful in its place 
and proportion. All other graces grow in connection 

the Spmt" also, by whom the privilege is applied, is "received 
through faith." (Gal. iii. 14.) The want of assurance is also 
itseif in fact, a want of faith. For if faith were more habitually 
exercised, we should be more conscious of its existence—and 
consequently more assured of our interest in the blessings of 
the Gospel. Clear views of Evangehcal doctrine-received in 
faith-and illustrated in the fruits of faith, will always issue in 
Christian assurance. Ytt faith, and believing that we have faith 
seem not to be identical. Nor does doubting of the existence 
ot taith necessarily belong to positive unbelief. The most e<*- 
tabhshed saints of the old dispensation occasionally lost their 
eonsnousness of the Divine favour-thMt is, their assurance, (Job 
xiii. 24; XIX. 11. Psalm xiii. 1; xxxi. 22; Ixxvii. 7—9. 
Ixxxvm. 7, 14-16.) ; while "the root of the matter "-the rout 
of faith— w^s still - in them." With the disciples-while thev 
were engrafted by faith, as living branches of the true vine— 
the privilege of assurance was prospective (John xv. 1— .5 with 
XIV, 20.) The faith— the mean of salvation— does not seem 
necessctrily to imply an appropriating interest in the Gospel (John 
1.49,50. Actsviii.37. Rom. x. 9. IJohnv.l.) The Apostles 
exhort ^0 assurance those, -who had obtained like precious faith 
with them. _ (2 Peter i. 1, 10.) They write to sincere believers, 
that they might be assured believers— ^l^lnlj distinguishing be^ 
t^^^en believing unto life, and " knowing that we hdve life ; and 
dennmg assurance to be rather the strengthened exercise, than the 
essential principle, oU^^^ (1 John v. 13.) They separate again 
between faith as the result of hearing, and the seaHng of the 
bpirit, 1. e. assurance— as the consequence of faith (Ephes. i 13 ) • 
as also between - the things that are freely given to us of God'' 
and our knowledge or perception of them by the Spirit of God (1 
Cor. 11. 12J And is our knowledge of these free gifts always 
diswmct ? Have we no part in them till we have fully cleared 
up our interest in them? And does the right of the heir 
depend upon his consciousness of the validity of his title ?— 
fne command '^instantly to - believe on the name of Jesus 
^hrist, IS indeed as binding upon us all as any part of the 
Decalogue. (John vi. 28, 29. 1 John iii. 23.) But as faith is 



VERSES 167, 168. 



459 



with the love of God's word. David was never tired 
of expressing his love. He had not " done the com- 
mandments'^ from constraint; but "his soul kept 
them " — yea — he " loved them exceedingly,'' Indeed 
the bias of the new nature to " keep the precepts " is 

the means of obtaining forgiveness (Acts x. 43 ; xiii. 38, 39 ; xxi. 
31.) — if it be supposed to imply a persuasion of forgiveness, it 
would involve the absurdity of believing that we are accepted, that 
we may he accepted. Thus forgiveness would be made to precede 
faith, instead of being the result of it. Again— as faith is the 
instrument, by which we are engrafted into Christ, (John xv. 4.) 
and brought into this state of acceptance, we must have faith, 
before we can be in this state— consequently before we can have 
assurance that we are in it. Faith therefore must be supposed 
separable from, and antecedent to, assurance. Thus also— if 
assurance be correctly di^frnQ^—' knowing whom we have believed'' 
(2 Tim. i. 12.) — consciousness supposes the previous exercise 
of faith on its object -that is— faith preceding assurance. 

Kor do we see any very distinct marks of assurance in many of 
the exercises of faith recorded in the gospels. Sense of need- 
desire— use of the appointed means— and a spirit of dependence 
mainly characterized the applicants for the Saviour's mercy- 
Doubts of his willingness (Matt. viii. 2, 3.) or his ability (Mark 
ix. 22.) often mingled themselves with the sincere workings of faith. 
The Centurion's case our Lord himself seemed to consider as an 
exception, (Matt. viii. 8—10.) Seldom did dependence amount 
to certainty; and appropriation was generally rather the result 
than the principle of the application. 

" The assurance of faith ''—as it properly respects a dependence 
upon the record, is indeed the essential principle of Christian life. 
But "the assurance of hope"— implying a conscious interest in the 
record, and comprehending the real privilege of assurayice— seems 
to be a distinct and separable idea. The truth of the record—*' Him 
that cometh unto me I will in no wise cast out"— may be implicitly 
received ; yet a consciousness of coming or of having come may be 
much obscured by negligence, self-righteousness, indistinct per- 
ception of the acts of faith, or the power of unbelief in some of its 
various forms. Consequently there will be a doubt of an interest 
in the record — a want of assurance. For no man's name — but 
his character only— is in the record. The declaration is— "He 
that believeth'' — not any particular individual mentioned by name 
■ — " shall be saved." No man is commanded in the first instance 
to believe that Christ died /or him individually — but for such as he 
is— for the unworthy— the guilty— the condemned — the perishing. 
This is the warrant of his application for his own case, the event 
of which will — ultimately, if not immediately— he appropriation 
and assurance. 

The Writer is deeply convinced, that a lowered exhibition of the 

X 2 



460 EXPOSITION OF PSALM CXIX. 

as prevalent as that of the old nature to sin. There 
was a time with the believer, when he would have 
wished the law of God blotted out of the universe, or 
at least exchanged for one more indulgent to his own 
inclinations. But now that it is witten in his heart, 

precious doctrine and inestimable privilege of Christian assurance 
has been seriously detrimental in deteriorating the standard of 
Evangelical religion. The objections against it are founded in 
Ignorance or misconception. Instead of savouring of presumption 
—It is the very principle of humility. We receive the Divine testi- 
mony ^'ithout reasom7ig or disputation. Whereas doubting mav 
be justly considered (to use an anomalous term) proud humVity 
For does not the doubt on account of our unworthiness, imply a 
secret dependence on worthiness as the ground of acceptance ? Nor 
again does Christian assurance militate against the influence of 
godly fear— vshich was never meant to impair the certainty of our 
^ith^; but to guard us against carnal security and self-confidence. 
We 'work out our salvation icith fear and trembling,'' upon the 
ground of assurance— th^t is— upon the appropriating confidence 
m God, "wfirknig all our worTis in us." (Phil. ii. 12, 13. Isaiah 
xxvi. 12.) The assured hope of the Gospel is the principle— not 
the hmdrance of godly fear. (Heb. xii. 28.) Indeed we must 
consider this doctrine— Scripturally stated— to be the life of Chris- 
tian privilege, and the spring of practical devotedness. Where 
' therefore it is defectively set forth— or scarcelv set forth at aU— or 
guarded with an over-anxious care against abuse— the privileo-e is 
but little known, and the springs of Christian exertion are weak 
and uncertain. And thus believers, too often in a weak, languid 
and highly sinful state of unbelief, acquiesce in a feeble exercise of 
this vital principle, and indeed can scarcely be persuaded to aim at 
a healthy and active habit of faith. They go about their duties 
like an expiring person about his work ; thinking of and caring for' 
all the detail of practical exertion ; while the desirableness of health 
and strength, the Physician and the remedv, are given up in de- 
spondency. Their case is perfectly recoverable bv due attention to 
the appointed means, and to the real nature and symptoms of their 
disease, ^et they sit down in the miserable and degrading con- 
clusion, that their powers are paralyzed ; and though they may 
preser\^e the notion of spiritual life and the hope of salvation at 
last ; yet they think they must be content to be feeble, comfortless 
and unprofitable. ' 

Much injury has also arisen from restricting the privilege of as- 
surance to the maturity of Christian experience. Does not the 
Apostle place it at the very threshold of the gospel, when he 
"'wTote to little children— because their sins were forgiven them 
for Christ's namesake?" (IJohn ii. 12.) And ought we not after 
the inspired pattern to ''desire every one to give diligence" in 
pressing towards this mark ? It is the duty of every Christian. 



VERSES 167, 168. 461 
he loves it even for its restraint. He longs for a closer 
intimacy with it; and as he obtains a clearer dis- 
cernment of its spirituality, he " loves it exceedingly:' 
There is not indeed one of the " precepts or testi- 
monies" that he " keeps" as he ought, and as he 

Diligence-as the habit of faith-is the appointed mean ; sloth 
—as the fruit of unbelief— the main hindrance to its attainment, 
i Heb vi 11 12.) It is undoubtedly the equal and common pri- 
vilege of' the' youngest as ^vell as the oldest member of the family 
of God-and (though the po^ver of unbelief, sloth or backslid ng 
may for awhile preclude the enjoyment of it) 
first, as well as to any successive, exercise of faith-to its most 
trembling, as well as to its most collected, act. (Acts xm. 38, 39.J 
Indeed the first genuine act of faith is at least as strenuous as any 
subsequent act; and perseverance this act, where the hand s 
trembling, is not unfrequently the characteristic of the greatest 
decision, courage, and maturity. All therefore should be ex- 
horted to assurance; nor should the youngest be satisfied with- 
out the attainment of it. Many realize it at a very early stage o 
Christian experience. And where they fall short of it it is not 
from defect in the object, or in the warrant-but m the mean. 
The exhibition of the work of Christ is not appropriate with that 
simplicity, which brings with it " joy and peace in believing _ 

The Writer cannot however, as he has before stated absolutely 
identify faith and assurance. He does not conceive adoption into 
the family of God "by faith" (Gal. iii. 26.) to depenu upon, or m 
all cases to be connected with, consciousness of this relation. ^ 
child may be fuUy assured of his interest in the family and title 
Z the patrimony. But while an infani-when his relation and 
intm-est tvas as complete as at any subsequent penod-he had no 
such consciousness. And thus many of the dear children of God 
have no consciousness that they are so ; yet they cry, they long, 
thev walk— or they try to walk— as children-and so they evince 
thai then are children. Or (to use another illustration) we may 
have light sufficient to distinguish objects, and to gmde us on our 
wav • while vet we do not see clearly, and therefore cannot possibly 
be conscious that we see clearly, mat judgment, we may also ask, 
must we form of the distressing and not unfrequent cases of con- 
stitutional infirmity-the characteristic of which is not so much 
positive unbelief (though there may be a mixture of t^is prm- 
ciDle in the easel as a want of mental power (often sudden and 
unaccountable) to apprehend the objects of faith in any distinct 
Gospel relation? They cannot be seen in their true light and 
bearing. The spiritual optics-though not destroyed-are greativ 
obscured, so that the eye of sense and natural conscience fills tne 
retina of contemplation with its own false views. This is a very 
different case from spiritual indolence, or want of laboriously 
distinct statement-that is-where the view of the elementary 

X 3 



462 EXPOSITION OF PSALM CXIX. 

desires ; but there is not one of them, that he does not 
dehght m, and most anxiously desire to fulfil. 

Nor let our consciousness of daily failures make 
us shnnk from this strong expression of confidence 
It IS alleged ' as an evidence of grace, and not as 
a claim of merit; 'i and therefore the most humble 
believer need not hesitate to adopt it as the expression 
of Christian sincerity before God. David aspired to 

materials is clear and wants only the exercise of industry in 
the arrangement of them. This is the state of a person fn a 
swoon-not of a corpse. The principle of life is lot elt nc^ 

■ ^^^"'■ance must be considered as the essential win 

aple of fmth-tWn all that are destitute of it must be ?n a state of 
unbelm . We have therefore to account for the strange anomaly 
of unbehevers knowmg the plague of their own hearfs,'- ha^S 
sm separate, from the world, and renewed in heart, temper "f| 
and conduct. For such unquestionably (judging from daily and 
accurate observation) are many, who-though\ept n bondage bJ 
their fear and doubts, and far from having attained a conscioul 
interest in Chnst-are yet (upon this supposition) brinsin^ forl 
m frmts of faith upon the root of unbelief! Is not ih"f a "stum 
Wmg to the unconverted? Is it not rather dSpt'^g " tZ' 
cherishing ■'the day of small things?" Is it not " breakinc " 
rather than binding up " the bruised reed?" Let us prav for fakh 
to, receive and to exhibit "the fulness of the blessing"-" the 
high calling ' and consequent responsibilities; but not shut tZ 

httle ones " out of the camp. Like Jacob of old, and a more w s^ 
and tender Shepherd than he-we must " gent y lead thoZ IZ 
are young." (Gen. xxxiii. 13, 14. Isaifh xl it) 

r»nt i-t» h"? ^'^^ it-seems fully to war- 

rant the distinction prevalent among the Puritan divines-of assu. 

2rr. r^ y^Z^ ^^"^ti^^-for his well-being, mt 

{» V In % establishment, not for Ws 

ff/'^'T" P^rt-though he does not scruple to say 
— He that behevezh not shall be damned" (Mark xvi 16 )-he 
dares not say-He that is not assured shall be 'damned. He would 
not therefore have the trembling soul too hastily conclude against 
Its faith, because its operations are not distinctly assured! ft the 
same time, in receiving the testimony in simplicity, in accept ng 
the Saviour which it so clearly reveals, in coming to God by hto 
in his own appointed way, and in abiding with him in " the obe™ 
ence of laith ' -he has no doubt but the assured confidence-- / 
know whom I have beheved " (2 Tim. i. 12.)_will be vouchLfed 
' Bishop Home. 



VERSES 167, 168. 46 



no higher character than that of a poor sinner; but 
he was conscious of spirituality of obedience, " ex- 
ceeding love" to the divine word, and an habitual 
walk under the eye of his God— the evidences of a 
heart (often mentioned in the Old Testament) " per- 
fect with him." 

Now let us ask— Do our " souls " thus " keep the 
Lord's testimonies" habitually, perseveringly ? Much 
as we have reason to be humbled for defect and 
Mnission, yet does conscience testify that they are 
uppermost" in our minds i— that our love breaks through 
the worldly rules of expediency, prudence, or the 
example of those around us (by which many measure 
out their scanty obedience) -as if it could never burn 
with sufficient fervour in his service, " who loved us 
and gave himself for us ? " ^ ^Vhy then should we 
shrink from this acknowledgment of " simplicity and 
godly sincerity ?" If we are ready to own — that 
" without Christ we can do nothing "—that his Spirit 
"has Avrought all our works in us"^ that "by 
the grace of God we are what we are " *— Aat our 
hope of acceptance is grounded upon the finished 
work on the cross— why should we refuse to confess ; 
the grace of God in us ? Yet we must not forget, 
that "allowed unfaithfulness in his service, neglect of 
secret prayer, impurity of motive, or any " iniquity 
regarded in the heart "—though they will not loosen 

. Compare verse 1. Margin, 2 Chron. xv. 17 ; xvi 9; 2 Kings 
^ The import of the term is limited and explained by the 
word "upright" united ^vith it, Job i. 8; Psalm xxxvii. 3,. 
The ScripWe use of the ^vord perhaps refers rather to our de- 
sires than our attainments (compare Phil. lu. 12-1, ;) and m 
eeneral seems to mark Christian maturity, as contrasted ^^1th the 
weakness of the babe and the inexperience of the young man in 
Christ. Compare the use of the same word xeAcior in 1 L^or. ii. 6. 

risaiahxxvi. 12, ^-ith John xv. 5. ^ 1 Cor.xv. 10. 



464 EXPOSITION OF PSALM CXIX. 

the ground of our hope-will obscure the comfort 
ot our Christian confidence. How beautiful is that 
princely spirit, which will not serve the Lord " of 
that which doth cost us nothing ; " i that not only 
longs for holiness as the way to heaven ; but loves 
heaven the better for the holy way that leads to 
It, and for the perfect holiness that reigns there 
eternally ! 

And how important is the daily remembrance, that 
" all our ways are before God!" that every act 
every thought, every desire, every word, is registered 
by conscience as his vicegerent, and laid up in his 
book of remembrance ! Well would it be for us 
if we walked less before men and more before God • 
if in secret, in business, at home and abroad, we heard 
the solemr. voice " I am the Almighty God: walk 
before me, and be thou perfect."'- We may be 
unreproyable in the sight of men, while it is a mere 
artificial walk grounded upon base external principles 
-a - walking after the flesh "-not before God. 
And even in the path of Christian uprightness, to 
have our eye constantly fixed in dutiful reverence 
upon the Omniscient, Omnipresent eye of Jehovah— 
what influence would it have upon our business, our 
conversation, our secret duties ! Our eye would 
be single, and our whole body full of light." 3 

men therefore I am about to venture 'upon any 
line of conduct, let me consider the watchful eye over 
me, that pierces into the deepest recesses of my 
thoughts, and brings as it were to day-light my 
principles, my motives, and my ends. Above all 
let me ever recollect, that he " before whom are 
all my ways," is He that hung upon the cross for 

■ 2 Sam. xxiv. 24. ^ Gen. xvii. 1. 3 Matt. vi. 22. 



VERSES 167, 168. 4bo 
my sins. Let me then walk, as if he were standing 
before me in all the endearing obligations of his love : 
Then surely I cannot be dead, insensible, sluggish in 
keeping his precepts : I cannot forbear to love him, 
or to conform to his rule— If ye love me, keep my 
commandments,^^ ^ 



* John xiv, 15, 



466 



EXPOSITION OF PSALM CXIX. 



PART XXII. 



I6p. Let my cry come near before thee, O Lord: give 
me understanding, according to thy word.— 
170. Let my supplication come before thee : 
deliver me according to thy word. 

We mark David here, where he always loved to be, 
a suppliant at the throne of grace. Many had been 
his cries and supplications J' His petition now is— 
that they may come near before his Lord,'' Oh I 
that our wants of every moment were felt with the 
same pressure, and earned to the Lord with that 
faith, earnestness, humility, and perseverance, which 
this Psalm has exhibited before us ! Richness of 
expression, and fluency of utterance, are the mere 
shell and shadow af prayer. The life of prayer is 
the cry of the heart to God. The eloquence of 
prayer is its earnestness. The power of prayer is 
that which cometh— not from education— or from the 
natural desire of the man— but that - which is from 
above''— the Spirit of supplication,''—^^ the Spirit 
of adoption." Tiie urgency of present need calls for 
instant prayer. The soul is at stake— the enemy is 
within the walls— perhaps within the citadel. Oh ! 
what a privilege to know that we have a strong 
habitation, whereunto we may continually resort"— 
to be able to remmd the Lord— Thou hast given 
commandment to save me, for thou art my rock and 
my fortress:'^ But then we must see that our 



^ Psalm Ixxi. 3. 



VERSES 169, 170. 467 

cry comes before-comes near before the Lord ; " 
that nothing blocks up the way, or interrupts the com- 
munication. If we are believers, the way is open ; 
" the middle wall of partition is broken down. U 
let us be excited to greater nearness of commumon. 
" Having boldness to enter into the holiest by the 
blood of Jesus, by a new and living way, which he 
hath consecrated for us, through the veil, that is to 
say, his flesh," i why should we be backward to 
come ? Except we had seen the way marked by 
this blood of sprinkling, we should (if we have had 
any sight into our own hearts) no more have dared 
to take one step into the awful presence of God, 
than to rush into the devouring flame. If m a 
moment of extremity we had felt, that we must 
pray or perish, we should have had no boldness to 
open our mouth before God, much less to expect 
that our " supplication would come near before 
him," had we not been " made nigh by the blood 
of Christ." * But what joy should it be to us, that 
this way to God is always open-that as members 
of Christ, we stand in the sight of God as pure as 
Christ is pure-that we have not only " access," but 
^'access with confidence" ^-je&, with the same con- 
fidence as the Son of God himself ! For the Father 
is never weary of delighting in his dear Son; or m 
those who are one with him. If he therefore takes 
our names into the holy place-if he off-er sacrifice 
and incense for us, and sprinkle us with his blood- 
" in him we are complete " *-in him let us " glory. - 
" Having an high-priest over the house of God ; let 

1 TTpVi X 19 20 ^ Eph. ii. 13. 

3 Eph. hi 12. 'Esther had "access" to the King-but not 



468 



EXPOSITION OF PSALM CXIX, 



US draw near with a true heart, in full assurance 
of faith." 1 

But where we feel as if we did not, could not, 
reach the thi-one of grace, " is there not a cause ? » 
The cause of our distance from God must be traced 
to a deeper origin than the dulness and insensibility 
of our hearts. The real difficulty of prayer, and 
indeed the actual inability to pray, arises in many, 
and probably in most cases, from a want of percep- 
tion of the way of access. We can readily conceive 
of this, m those who are totally ignorant of Christ ; 
and the same must be admitted in the cases of weak, 
unestabhshed, or negligent Christians. Through igno- 
rance of the fulness and freeness of the gospel in the 
one, and indulgence of sin or secret unwatchfulness 
in the othec, the way of access (only perceptible by 
the eye of faith) becomes dim, the desire fahit, the 
spnitual strength weakened. And instead of the 
acknowledgment-" The Lord hath heard the yoice 
of my supplications," 2 the mournful complaints are 
heard—" My soul cleaveth to the dust-0 that I 
were as in months past ! " 3 We cannot wonder at 
this barren state of mind. Prayer without faith must 
ever be a heartless ceremony in the spirit of bondacre. 
That which gives to it life and acceptance is the iL- 
mediate connexion of the duty with the offices of 
Christ.4 The ignorant and self-righteous may find it 
a matter of course (as easy as it is fruitless) to bow 
their knee in the service of prayer. But the light 
that darts in upon awakened consciences -revealino- 
something hitherto unknown of God and of themselves 
—shews the ground of confidence for a self-con- 
demned sinner, to be a matter of the deepest mystery 

' Heb. X. 21, 22 =^ Psalm vi. 9. 3 Verse 25. Job xxix. 2. 
■* Heb. lY. 14—16; x. 19—22. 



VERSES 169, 170. 469 

and most amazing difficulty. Such a confidence 
however God has found and laid open. We cannot 
honour him more than by making use of it. Smce 
all that come in the name of Jesus are welcome- 
seeking, penitent, distressed sinner, why should not 
you be welcome ? The throne of grace was raised for 
poor empty sinners such as you. You cannot want 
larger promises, or a better plea than meets you there. 
You come— not because you are worthy, but because 
you are bid, to come, fake the command, and lay 
it upon your conscience. Exercise faith upon it ; 
and it will bring you to God, if you have not hitherto 
come ; or restore you to God, if you have wandered 

fi-om him. r r< j 

But again-in a state of secret departure from God, 
we may have been much engaged in active service, or 
even in the exercises of social religion ; yet be assured, 
that if these duties are substituted for secret commu- 
nion with God, " the things that remain in us will be 
ready to die ; " i ordinances will fail to enrich ; Chris- 
tian fellowship will bring uo refreshment ; and your 
soul, while blessed with the abundance of means of 
a-race, " in the fulness of its sufficiency, will be m 
straits." ^ Indeed, if our affections and feelmgs are 
moved in social exercises, and are cold and msensible 
when we are alone with God, we have gTeat reason 
to suspect our state. Especially then let us ask our- 
selves—What do we know of the comforts ot the 
closet ? Do we pray, because we love to pray, or 
only because our consciences will not allow us to omit 
a known duty ? Does the Lord mark those secret 
transactions with himself, that manifest our hearts to 
be really drawn to him ? Is it any pressing business 



1 Rev. iii. 2.' 



Job ss. 22. 



470 EXPOSITION OF PSALM CXIX, 

of our soul's salvation, that brings us to God ^ Are 
our services enlivened with spiritual apprehensions of 
Christ ? It IS possible to continue for a course of years 
m the outward course of duty-and yet not one of our 
payers ever to "come near before the Lord?"— 
Perhaps we have not come in the appointed way— 
aod therefore we have never really come at all. Or 
if the name of Christ has been affixed to our prayers 
It has been rather as a component part of a formal 
system, than as an exercise of dependence in seeking 
acceptance with God. 

But it may be, that we have backslidden from God 
m a habit of indulged coldness or wilful iniquity 
■ ]Vow if we would expect " the candle of the Lord 
again to shine upon our heads, and his secret to be 
upon our .tabernacles," 1 we must rest satisfied with 
nothing short of the full restoration of our privileges 
We must return to the Lord with deepened contrition 
m his appointed way, and wait for him to look upon 
us m secret, and again to let our supplication corne 
near before him." He had only - gone and returned 
to his place, till we acknowledged our offence and 
sought his face ; " 2 and he is now sitting on a " throne 
of grace," "waiting, that he may be gracious." 3 We 
have therefore much encouragement again to fall down 
at his feet, and to pray, and never cease to pray, 
until we feel that our " cry and supplication come 
near before him," and spiritual " understanding and 
deliverance " are vouchsafed. 

It is beautiful to observe the Psalmist's faith— like 
oil. feeding the flame of his supplication. Every 
petition is urged upon the warrant of a promise— 
according to thy word." Thus were the promises 

> Job xxix. 3, 4. 2 Hosea y, J5. 3 i^^^h xxx. 18. 



VERSES 169, no. 471 
the verv breath of his supplication. Thus did they 
excite his expectation for a favourable answer, and 
exercise his patience until the answer should come. 
Thoucrh in possession of so comparatively small a 
portion of the blessed book, he seemed always to find 
a word for the present occasion ; always able to shew 
to his God his own hand and seal. Alas ! sometimes 
with the whole word of God before us, we are at a loss 
to appropriate one of its innumerable promises to the 
circumstances, wants, or difficulties of the day. Yet 
with all our contracted views of the covenant, still our 
interest in it is not denied. Such is the condescension 
«rf our tender Father, that he accepts even the stam- 
mering language of faith in his children ! The cry 
"Abba, Father," feeble as it may be-' though (as 
Luther sweetly expresses it) 'it is but a cry ; yet it 
doth so pierce the clouds, that there is nothmg else 
heard in heaven of God and his angels.' ^ And how 
delightful is the thought that God's elect-as they 
will shortly be gathered a countless multitude around 
the heavenly throne ^-so do they now hold spiritual 
communion with each other; while "they cry day 
andiii<rht"3 to their Father at the throne of grace! 
True it is— we understand not one another's tongues. 
Yet does our loving Father understand us all. Nor 
do our different dialects cause any confusion m heaven, 
but rather unite and form one cloud of incense ascend- 
in- with continual acceptance and delight m his pre- 
sence. Ineffable is the delight with which our beloved 

1 Luther on Gal. iv. 6. And again-' This little word. Tather 
corceh-ed effectuallv in the heart, passeth aU ^e eloquence o 
Demosthenes. Cicero, and of the most eloquent rhetoricians tl^t 
eve^were in he world. This matter is not expressed with ^vords, 
rut XgroInings: which groanings cannot be uttered with any 
words of eloquence, for no tongue can express them. 

= Rev.vii. 9. ' Lukexvm. ,. 



472 EXPOSITION OF PSALM CXIX. 

beholds the happiness of communion with himself 
which he purchased for his people with his o^yn blood.' 

U my dove, that art in the clefts of the rocks, in the 
s«>ret places of the stairs, let me see thy countenccnce, 
let me hear thy voice : for sweet is thy voice, and thy 
countenance is comely." i 

171. My lips shall utter praise, when thou hast taught 
me thy statutes. 

How happy is it to go to God with a cheerful heart, 
and to be as large in praise as in prayer ! The answer 
of the supplication for spiritual understanding and 
deliverance naturally issues in the sacrifice of praise. 
Guilt had sealed David's lips, while living in the 
commission of sin, and restrained alike the utterance 
of praise and prayer. But when awakened to a sense 
ot his sin, how earnest were his cries Restore unto 
me the joy of thy salvation. O Lord, open thou my 
lips ; and my mouth shall shew forth thy praise " 2 
And if guilt or unbelief has made us dumb, his 
petitions will be suitable means to tune our hearts to 
the " songs of Zion." ^Yhen the Lord has taught us 
m his statutes the revelation of himself-as havino- 
given his dear Son for us and to us-" the tongue of 
the dumb is made to sing"3_» Thanks be to God for 
his unspeakable gift !" * 

And do I not remember " the time of love" when 
I was - a brand plucked out of the fire »— a redeemed 
smner-a pardoned rebel-destined for a seat on the 
throne of God-indulged with a taste, and assured 
of the completion, of heavenly bliss ? This was a work 
worthy of God_a work, which none but God could 
I Can ii. 14, also iv. 11. 2 Vi^^XraXi. 12, 15 



VEKSE 171. 

have'wrouoht. What mercy is this that was vouch- 
safed! What gratitude is demanded \ " My lips shall 
utter praise now that he has taught me his statutes "— 
O Lord, I will praise thee ; though thou wast angry 
with me, thine anger is turned away, and thou com- 

fortest me."i 

Again— I seemed to have sunk beyond the possibility 
of help. Xo means, no ministers, no providences, 
could reach the extremity of my case. All were 
.< physicians of no value,""- tried and tried agam, 
but ti-ied in vain. But, in the midst of weakness 
thoroughly felt, " strength was made perfect." ^ The 
clouds that threatened my ruin were dispersed ; the 
breaches were healed; the veil of unbelief was rent. 
"The right hand of the Lord hath brought mighty 
thinostopass"*-"He hath both spoken unto me, 
and himself hath done it; J and " it is marvellous in 
our eyes." « Let my stammering " lips utter praise." 
What a display of power. It is the spark preserved 
iu the ocean unquenched-the drop in the flames un- 
consumed-the feather in the storm unshaken-" Who 
is a God like unto thee ?" " Xot unto us, O Lord, not 
unto us, but unto thy name give glory." ' ^ 

And again— I was perplexed in a dark and bewil- 
dered pa'h. Every dispensation of the Lord appeared 
to frown upon me. One dark hour had blotted out 
all the recollections of my former comforts, and it was 
as if I never could, never should, rejoice again. But 
little did I think, during the season of trial, how the 
Lord was " abounding towards me in all wisdom and 
prudence "s-how his arrows were sharpened with 
love— how he was "humbling me and proving me, to 

1 Isaiah xii I. ' Job xiii. 4. ^ , Cor. xii. 9. 

i Psalm csviii. 16, ' Isa. sxxviii. 15. <> Psalm csvui. 23. 
7 Micahvii. 18. Psalm cxv.l. ^Ephes.i.t,. 



474 EXPOSITION OF PSALM CXIX. 

know what was in my heart " i-and in the moment of 
chastenmg was speaking to me-'< I know the thoughts 
that I thmk towards you, saith the Lord : thoughts 
of peace and not of evil, to give you an expected enh> ^ 
U hat a display of Mm ! " My lips shall utter 

would immediately cry out." 3 

Surely thus to glorify my Saviour is as high a pri- 
vilege as to enjoy him. .>fay-is it not the means ^f 
ucreasing my enjoyment of him ? For thus is mv 
love excited, and every grace called into active exer- 
cise for his sake. Let me then watch, lest the enemy 
rob me, as too often he has done, of my high pri- 
vilege. Let me make much of secret prayer Lt 
me be separate from an ensnaring world. Let me 
dread separation from my God. And when deadness 
oi- unbelief have estranged me from him, let me never 
rest until I once more walk in the light of his coun- 
tenance. And to this end-let me continually -re- 
ceive the atonement," believing that it is always 
Fesented and always accepted on my behalf I^t 
me fix the eye of my faith, weak and dim as it may 
be, constantly upon Jesus. He must do all for me 
in me by me. He must give me an abundant increas<; 
ot the Spirit of wisdom and revelation," * that I may 
be ''taught" more and more of - the statutes" of 
my God ; that my heart may be delightfully engaged 
with " my lips in uttering his praise." 

^ Luke x^^' 40 : Jeremiah xxix.Il. 



VERSE 172. 475 



172. Mt/ tongue shall speak of thy word ; for all thi, 
commandments are righteousness. 

To speak of God and for him will be the desire 
and delight of him, whose heart and lips have been 
taught to "utter praise." Alas! how reluctant are 
we to this work ! Our conversation with each other 
—how little is it often "seasoned with grace ! 
So much of this poor world's nothing ! So little ot 
Jesus ! But " if so be that we have tasted that the 
Lord is gracious/' and if our hearts are under the con- 
straint of his love, we cannot but commend him to 
others. " We cannot but speak " of his holy character, 
and Ms unbounded love. And, when we see how 
hardly men judge of him-how they count "his com- 
mandments grievous," and his "ways unequal' 
shall be constrained to bear our testimony, that " all 
his commandments are righteousness"— restrmnm^ tte 
power of sin, exciting to holiness of conversation, and 
in every way conforming the soul to his image. 

Our meditation on this verse will be rendered profit- 
able, by turning it into a prayer. " Lord, open thou 
mv lips, that my tongue may be speaking oj thy 
Jrd." Honour me, O my God, by helping me to 
shew that " all thy commandments are righteousness. 
-If 'more recourse were had to prayer, the tongue 
would be more ready to speak for God and our 
speech would be more for "the use of edifying 
But it is not a superficial knowledge of the word, that 
will cause ouV tongues to speak with readiness and 
unction of its blessed contents. It must he made 
really our own : it must be known experimentally, m 

1 Col. iv. 6. ' Exekiel xviii. 25. ' Ephes. iv. 29. 



476 EXPOSITION OF PSALM CXIX. 

order to be enjoyed and recommended to others And 
when this s the case with the servant of G d how 
cheenn,, how enlivening is his conversation^ 

10 giority his Father which is m heaven " i 

Perhaps-believer-you may have been led to keep 

or want of seasonable opportunity. But under uu 
favourable circumstances it will generally be ound 
that something maybe said, as well as done Ztt 
service of God. And whilst it is well caTefdlvt 
watch against the ^< talk of the lips, wh ch e I^^^ 
only to penury,", do not forget the crafty devices 
o Satan to shut the mouth of the faithful witnlsL 
ot God. You have much need of watchfulness and 
prayer, I,st through the scrupulous tendernessTf yo„t 

means of your silence, weaken the cause of your 
Master, which it is your sincere desire to suppoT' 

u?be, rr"' ^^^'"^^ influence of 

unbelief Let your weakness and inability be made 
he subject of unceasing prayer. Let any dreTded 
inconsistency of profession be searched out, examined 
and lamented before the Lord, and opp sedTn de 
pendence on his grace; but never let it be made a 
cover,„, for indolence, or supply fuel for desponden y 
There IS no more delightful connexion with Christ 
than bringing your wants to him. And therefore be 
encouraged to ask for the Spirit of God to guide your 

J^ul i P'"'"'" Him who is surrounded 
with all the Hosts of Heaven. 

' Matt. V. 16. 2Provxiv23 



VERSE 172. 477 
When our silence has arisen from the too feeble 
resistance of our natural carelessness and indolence, the 
recollection of many precious opportunities of glorify- 
ing our Saviour, lost beyond recal, may well excite 
the prayer—" DeUver me from blood-guiltiness, O 
God ; and my tongue shall sing aloud of thy right- 
eousness." 1 Oh ! for that compassionate love, that 
would never suffer us to meet a fellow-sinner without 
lifting up our hearts to God on his behalf, makmg an 
effort to win his soul to Christ ; and manifestmg by 
our whole deportment an earnest desire for his salva- 
tion ! What loss is there to our own souls in these 
neglected opportunities of bringing a blessing to the 
souls of others ! For never do we receive a larger 
blessing to our own souls, than in the act or endeavour 
to communicate to others. The heart becomes en- 
larged by every practical exercise of Christian love. 
Yet much simplicity— much unction from above- 
much wisdom combined with boldness— is needed^ in 
our daily conversation, that we may "make manifest 
the savour of the knowledge of Christ in every place ! " " 
If we are as full of matter as Elihu s was, nothing 
will be said for God— nothing, that will "minister 
gTace to the hearers "—unless the influence of the 
Divine Spirit is filling our hearts.^ But if " the word 
of Christ is dwelling in us richly in all ^visdom," ^ it 
will be as " a well of water, springing up unto ever- 
lastmg life," a blessing to all around us. 

1 Psalm li. 14. S2CoT.ii. 14. 

3 Compare Job xxxii. 18—20. 
4 Compare Ephes. v. 18, 19. ' Col. iii. 16. 



478 



EXPOSITION OF PSALM CXIX. 



173. Let thy hand help me ; for I have chosen thy 
precepts, 

David haviug- engaged himself to a thankful pro- 

supph of help. Let tMne hand help me." And 
If we are encouraged to " come to the throne of grace " 
that we may find "g,-ace to help in time of need ^ 
when are we not to come ? For is not even- mom'ent 
a t me of need,' such as may quicken us" to flee to 
the strong towev' whither ''the righteous runneth 
a..d IS safe . Besieged without,, betraved within- 

agam.t flesh and blood only - often discouraged bv 
.he little ground we seem to o-ain in the stmo-de' 
surely we' need all the help of Omnipotence to su"ain 
us m the tremendous conflict. We mav plead our 
choice of "hij precepts,-' in looking for his help* 
David had before - taken the testimonies of God as 
his heritage --includmg all the precious promises 
of the gospel, extending to everv necessitv of time 
and to every prospect for eternity. He now confes^ 
his obligations-" in choosing the precepts'-^ happy 
chmce-the influence of the Spirit upon his heart.6 

i^rompt obedience, in simplicity of faith, will form 
the character of this choice. 3Ianv carnal suo-gestion. 
are ready to ofier themselves, th; moment that tbe^ 
purpose is forming into the choice. _ "The thino-. that 
were grain to us," and which now must be "counted 
loss for Christ,-' 7 (should we allow them an entrance 
into our hearts at this crisis) will bring much hesita- 



ver_e94. 1 Ibid Hi « See Ezek. xi. 19, 20. 

' rm. 111. 7. 



VERSE 173. 47y 

tioii and perplexity. Conferences with flesh and 
blood'' are amongst the most subtle hindrances to 
Christian determination.! ' What will the world say ? 
If I go too far, I shall give offence ; all my influence 
will be gone, and all my prospects of eventually 
benefiting those around me will be blasted. The 
apprehension also of losing the affection, and of in- 
curring the displeasure, of those whom my heart holds 
dear, is most fearful. And then, this sacrifice is too 
costly to make— that pleasure too hard to resign.' 
Thoughts of this nature— the injections of the tempter 
—are ever at the door ; and even when effectual resis- 
tance is offered, the struggle is often most severe. 
But oh! it is such a mighty help in this conflict, 
w^hen one desire has taken sole possession of the heart 
Lord, what wilt thou have me to do ? " —when we 
are so crucified to worldly influence, whether of plea- 
sure, profit, fear, or esteem, as to be ready to act upon 
tlie resolution-'^ Wherefore henceforth know we no 
man after the flesh." ^ 

Experience of our own weakness, and of the great 
power of the world, is gradually preparing us for victory 
over it— we shall then most specially find our happi- 
ness in losing our own will ; and our Master's cross 
will be a delightful burden— like wings to a bird, or 
sails to a ship— assisting, instead of retarding, our 
course. 

The want of a determined choice is the secret of 
much of that halting profession that prevails among 
us. A compromise is attempted with the world. " The 
offence of the cross" begins to ''cease." X middle 
path of serious religion is marked out, divested of what 
is called needless offensweness—iox^^iimg that the 



1 Comp. Gal.i. 16. ^ Acts ix. 6. 



3 2 Cor. V. 16. 



480 EXPOSITION OF PSALM CXIX, 

religion that pleases the world will never be acceptable 
with God-nor can the religion that pleases God be 
ever accommodated to the inclination of the world. 
Oh ! we shall do well to consider whether the way 
of "the Lord's precepts" may not be found too 
hard, too strait, too unfrequented— whether we are 
prepared to brave the pointed finger and whispered 
scoff of the ungodly; and, perhaps, the opposition 
of beloved friends, with mistaken tenderness resisting 
our course.i Often has the Christian profession been 
hastily taken up and relinquished."- He that wishes 
to abide by it, must daily learn this lesson—" Without 
me ye can do nothing "-and, in conscious helplessness, 
will often breathe the supplication—" Let thine hand 
help me." 

Nor is this petition needful only in the first view 
of this choice, and in the first desire to appropriate 
It. In the growing and more decided conviction of 
its superior happiness, and in the daily endeavour to 
live in it, we shall find increasing need for the same 
acknowledgment of helplessness, and the same cry 
for support. And blessed be God for the assurance, 
that he has " laid help upon one that is mighty; " 3 
so that our insufficiency and all-sufficiency are visible 
at one glance ; and " when we are " most " weak, then 
are we " most " strong." * " They that war against 
thee shall be as nothing, and as a thing of nought. 
For I the Lord thy God will hold thy right hand, 
saying unto thee—" Fear not, I will help thee." 5 

" Comp. Luke xiv. 26. 
Comp. Matt. viii. 19, 20. 3 pjaim Ixxxis. 19. 

^ 2 Cor.xii. 10. 
Isaiah xli. 12, 13. Comp. the whole passage, verses 10—16 



VERSE 174. 



481 



174. I have longed for thy salvation, Lord; and 
thy law is my delight. 

Religion will decay or flourish, as it is our duty 
or our delight. The mind is incapable of continued 
e^exiiow for duty ; but it readily falls in with "de- 
light:' Thus our duties become our privileges, 
while Christ is their source and life. Every step of 
progress is progress in happiness. This verse (of 
which experience is the best interpreter) is the be- 
liever's language in his lively, as well as in his faint- 
ing state. For the more he knows and enjoys of the 
Divine presence, the more he longs to know and enjoy 
it. He finds this world's all to be really nothing- 
nothing to feed the appetite, nothing to quench the 
thirst, of an immortal soul. Earthly comforts and 
possessions are enjoyed, not abused; they are 
loved only as God would have them loved ; and 
Himself and his salvation loved and longed-for above 
all. The soul is supremely engaged in the pursuit 
of the satisfying portion of the gospel, and nothing 
will give real rest but an answer to the prayer—'' Say 
unto my soul, I am thy salvation. " - The creatures 
are, as it were, commissioned to withhold the comfort 
we are longing for, that we may be driven to seek it 
in God alone—'' Thou, O God, art the thing that I 
long for." 3 And this is true religion— when the 
Lord of all occupies that place in the heart which 
he fills in the universe— TAere he is " All in all,"' 
Here the believer cries—'' Whom have I in heaven 
but thee? and there is none upon earth that I desire 
beside thee J' O what a privilege is it to have him 

1 See 1 Cor, vii. 3i. ^ Psalm xxxv. 3. 

3 Ibid. Ixxi. 4. P. T. ^ Ibid. Ixxiii. 25. 

Y 



482 EXPOSITION OF PSALM CXIX. 

in heart, in thought, and in view— to be rejoicing in 
his presence — and to be longing for a greater con- 
formity to his image and for a more lively enjoyment 
of his love ! This longing is a satisfactory evidence 
of the Divine work,^ when it exercises the soul in 
habitual contemplation of the Saviour ; when it urges 
to nearer and growing communion with him, and 
supreme delight in his law.'' Such desires will 
doubtless end 'in the fruition of his glorious God- 
head,' 2 

But the Lord often brings this charge against 
his professing people — " Thou hast left thy first 
love J' ^ — The principle is not dead, but it is decayed 
— the measure and degree of its operations are abated, 
— Who does not possess a nature prone to apostacy ? 
Security and insensibility steal upon the soul un- 
consciously ; — and until it is prostrate under their 
influence, the danger is often scarcely perceived* 
The love of Christ is not meditated upon. Faith is 
not in habitual exercise, and consequently there are 
no attractive views of the Saviour. The soul is satis- 
lied with former afi'ections to him. There is little 
heart to labour for him. The use of the means, in 
which communion with him was once enjoyed, is 
slighted ; and as the natural consequence — the heart 
becomes cold in spiritual desires, and warm in worldly 
pursuits ; and too often without any smitings of 
conscience for divided love. 

This declension of affections is considered indeed 
by some professors to be a matter of course. The 
young convert is supposed to abound most in love, 
and as he advances, his fervour gradually to subside 
into matured judgment and experience. It is indeed 



1 See Neh. i. 11. 2 Collect for Epiphany. 3 Rev. ii. 4, 



VERSE 174. 483 
true, that those, who have no root in themselves,^' 
lose their lively affections and their religion with them, i 
But we cannot conceive the real principle of love to 
decay— that is— our esteem of God cannot be lowered, 
our longing for his salvation" cannot languish, our 
delicrht in the enjoyment of it cannot be diminished, 
wdthout bringing guilt and loss upon our souls. Our 
love is the Lord's-He calls for it, 2 and it is most 
unreasonable to deny him his own. He is the same 
as when we first loved him. Then we thought him 
worthy of our highest love. Do we then repent of 
having loved him so much ? Have we found him less 
than our expectations? Can we bestow our love 
elsewhere with stricter justice or to better advantage ? 
Do not all the gTOunds of our love to him continue 
in full force ? Have they not rather increased every 
day and hour ? What would an indulgent husband 
think of incessant and increasing attentions repaid 
with diminished affection ? And how insufficient a 
compensation would the most assiduous diligence in 
outward service prove for such a loss ! Oh ! let us 
not sit dowTi satisfied with our own indolence, and be 
easy because gi'ace abounds : but let us (according to 
ou/ Lord's direction 3) remember the times, when we 
" longed more for his salvation " than now— when we 
took more delight in communion with him— when 
we had more readiness to labour and suffer for him, 
and even to die to go home to his presence. Let us 
'^repent" with deeper contrition— and do our first 
works" — never resting till we have regained our 
delight in him— and can take up afresh the language 
of confidence and joy— I have longed for thij sal- 
vation, Lord.^^ 

1 See Matt. xiii. 20, 21. 
- See Prov. xxiii: 26. ^ See Rev. ii. 5. 

Y 2 



4^4 EXPOSITION OF PSALM CXIX. 

Some however of the Lord's dear children are dis- 
tressed in the conscious coldness of their spiritual 
afFections— But if it be a mark of the decay of gTace 
to lose our first love/' it is at least a mark of the 
truth of gTace to mourn over this loss. There is 
always a blessing for those " that hunger and thirst 
after righteousness/' i though they have not attained 
to the full extent of their desires. Their restless 
desires after Christ are the beating pulse of the hidden 
life ; and if there be not always a sensible gTowth 
of desire and enjoyment, there may be (as with the 
trees in winter) gTowth at the root— in a more fixed 
habit of gTace and love, in a deeper spirit of humility, 
and in a more established principle of self-knowledge 
and simplicity. Yet this shortest way of peace will 
be to loot off from our longing for this salvation,'' 
to the salvation " itself— that is— to the proper 
object of faith here revealed. - Frames and feelings 
are subject to continual variation, and are (especially 
in the hour of temptation) very uncertain gTounds 
of support. Amidst all their fluctuation, however, 
Christ may always be safely trusted. While there- 
fore, we are humbled and self-abased in the view of 
our own coldness, let us not brood in despondency, 
and neglect to look at the cross of Jesus. Let not 
our eyes be so filled with tears of contrition, as to 
obscure the sight of his free and full salvation. 

Looking'' singly unto Jesus'' as our peace and 
our life, is at once our duty, our privilege, our safety, 
and the secret of our daily progTess in the way to 
heaven. 

The connexion here marked between the longing 
for salvation,'' and " delight in the law" may not 



1 Matt. V. 6. 



2 See Heb. xii. 2. 



VERSE 174. 485 



have been wholly unintentional. It is at least an 
incidental evidence, that right apprehensions of his 
"salvation" must be gTounded upon his word or 
" law ; " and that any impulse or excitement given 
to the feelings, independent of and not warranted by 
the word, ought to be rejected as delusive. Indeed, 
such is the union of these two points, that " delight 
in the law of God" will necessarily produce a " long- 
ing for" the full enjoyment of his "salvation;" and 
this holy " longing" will expand itself in an habitual 
" delight in his law." And this proves the false 
character of many "longings for salvation "—that 
they are unaccompanied with delight in the law of 
God as the means of obtaining and enjoying this sal- 
vation. But here was fervency, holiness, " delight." 

Well will it be for us, if this beautiful Psalm, and 
each verse of it, should excite us to be followers of 
him, who evidently knew so much of the heavenly 
enjoyments of religion. Why should we not, why 
do we not, determine to know as much of God as we 
can ? Why are our " longings for his salvation," so 
transient and so few ? The soul that really longs 
shall " not be ashamed of its hope." Even to taste 
the present fruits-though it be but a taste— in a 
sense of reconciliation, liberty of access, a beam of the 
love of Jesus in the heart, is unutterable enjoyment. 
It strengthens the soul for the endurance of appointed 
trials, and for a devoted, self-denying, obedient walk. 
But if what we have known is but a taste of heavenly 
pleasures, let us long for fuller draughts. Let us 
seek for that hungering and thirsting of soul, which 
shall be fully satisfied; but which will not, cannot, 
be satisfied with any thing short of the fulness of God. i 



1 Compare Eph. iii. 19. Psalm xvii. 15. 
Y 3 



486 EXPOSITION OF PSALM CXIX. 

There are heights and depths of spiritual communion 
yet unexplored ; and it is an encouragement to remem- 
ber, that he who has vouchsafed large attainments 
of them to others, is rich in mercy to all that call 
upon him : i that the fountain of everlasting love is 
ever flowing, ever full; and that the gracious com- 
mand to - open our mouths wide/^ is accompanied 
with the promise that they shall be tilled/^ 2 

Lord ! with whom alone is the power to work in 
the hearts of thy people, create in our souls a more 
intense - longing- for thy salvation, and a more 
fervent - delight in thy law.- As our - longings 
for thy salvation ^ were increased, oh ! nail us to 
the door-posts of thy house, and may we be thy 
servants for ever ! 

175. Let my soul live, and it shall praise thee : and let 
thy judgments help me. 

What is the life that the Psalmist is now praying 
for, but the salvation for which he had just expressed 
his longing ? The taste that he has received makes 
him hunger for a higher and continued enjoyment— 
not for any selfish gratification, but that he might 
employ himself in the praise of his God. Indeed,''as 
we have drawn towards the close of this Psalm,'we 
cannot but have observed that character of praise 
to pervade his experience, which has been generally 
remarked in the concluding Psalms of this sacred 
book ; 3 and much do we lose of spiritual strength 

1 Rom. X. 12. 2 Psalm Ixxxi. 10. 

3 Verses 164, 171, 172. The last six Psalms are for the most 
part throughout the breathings of praise. They were probably 
written at the close of life, and may be considered as striking 
indications of a soul ripening for giorv. As it is said of the 
perfumes of Arabia Felix, that they exhale their odours in the 



VERSE 175. 487 
for want of occupying ourselves more in the exercise 
of praise. Yet he alone is fitted for this heavenly 
employ, of whom it has been said-'' This my son 
J deLd and is alive again.- And he who has 
" looked to the hole of the pit whence he is digged, - 
who has been awakened to a sight of that tremendous 
gulf from which he is but "scarcely saved, ^ wiU 
lono- to give utterance to the effusion of his heart 
Yet neither can he be stirred even to this dehghtful 
privilege, until the quickening influence of "the Lord 
Ld Giver of life" has been vouchsafed Praise 
therefore, sprmgs from prayer-" Let my sord hve and 
it skall pZse tkee." ^Vhen "life is breathed into 
our souls," our services will be enlivened and we shall 
become, in the noblest sense, " living souls. 

Too often, however, from the consciousness ot the 
inconstancy, carelessness, and unspirituality of our 
hearts, we almost forget to tune our instruments to 
nraise. Let not any recollection of our sin be unac- 
companied with a humble yet assured confidence 
in the Lord's pardoning grace. The abominations, 
of a desperately wicked and unsearchably deceitful 
heart may well lead us to sigh and cry before God 
and to "abhor ourselves in dust and ashes. let 
out of the lowest depths of abasement, we may 
behold a gracious Saviour, whose blood applied to 
the conscience " cleanseth from all sin ; who once 
" passed by us, and saw us polluted in our blood, 
and said unto us, when we were in our blood. Live : 
and who still " holdeth our souls in life," « by covering 

""TEzekielxvi.e. , ^ Psalm Ixvi, 9. 



488 EXPOSITION OF PSALM CXIX, 

our daily infirmities, and maintaining our everlastine 
acceptance before God. 

But while the song of praise dwells on our lips 
tor hfe thus purchased and thus freely given let us 
guard against whatever may impede its growth, or 
check Its influence. For if the life within waxes low 
praise will be dull and heartless ; and on the contrary' 
when the believer is assured of his hope-when his 
prayer is fully answered-" ie^ my soul live, and it 
shaU praise tkee"-see how its spirit breaks forth, as 
1 the kindling fire could no longer be restrained- 
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus 
t^tirist, which, according to his abundant mercy, hath 
begotten us again unto a lively hope by the resur- 
rection of Jesus Christ from the dead." i The work 
of praise is now his nature, his element, his delioht 
x%o wonder, then, that he is earnest in supplicatfons 
tor the renewal of his spiritual life, that he may return 
to this sweet antepast of heaven-" Let my soul live." 
And, indeed, the more this life is known, the more 
will It be made the subject of prayer; for it is this 
alone, that makes existence tolerable to the child of 
God. Such an one is not satisfied with the lifeless 
actmgs of a sickly existence : he longs for a spiritual 
revival. And yet at his best moments, the recollection 
of msufliciency for his holy work never forsakes him. 
Every expression of praise, even after the renewal 
of his life, is followed with petition for help—" Let 
thy judgments help me." Give me such an enlight- 
ened apprehension of thy word- of thy character— 
of thy perfections, as the God of my salvation, as 
may furnish abundant matter for unceasing praise; 
so that my daily experience may be— " Giving 

' 1 Peter i, 3. 



VERSE 176. 489 

thanks always for all things unto God and the Father 
in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ.'^ ^ 

176. / have gone astray like a lost sheep : seek thy ser- 
vant ; for I do not forget thy commandments. 

That *'allwe like sheep have gone astray/' - is 
the testimony from the mouth of God; confirmed, 
if, indeed it needed confirmation, by daily experience 
and observation. But it is very affecting that this 
should not only be the description of a world living 
without God, but the confession of God's own people 
— I have gone astray like a lost sheep,^^ That they 
should ever wander from privileges so great — from 
a God so good — from a Shepherd so kind ! What 
can induce them to turn their backs upon their best 
Friend, and sin against the most precious love that 
was ever known, but something, that must, upon 
reflection, fill them with shame ? It is common, and 
indeed natural, to cast the blame upon the temptation, 
of Satan, the seductive witcheries of the world, or 
some untoward circumstances. But whoever deals 
honestly with himself, must trace the source of back- 
sliding to his own heart, and say — " This is my infir- 
mity.'^ ^ And have we replaced what we have wilfully 
yielded up with any thing of equal or superior value ? 
May not the question be asked of us — ''What fruit 
have ye then in those things whereof ye are now as- 
hamed ? for the end of those things is death." ^ 

But if we are distant from the beloved fold, nothing 
is really enjoyed. It is as impossible for the child 
of God to be happy, when separated from communion 
with his God, as if he were in the regions of eternal 

1 Ephes. V. 20. - ^ Isaiah liii. 6. 1 Peter ii. 25. 

3 Psalm Ixxvii. 10. ^ Rom. vi. 21. 

Y 5 



490 EXPOSITION OF PSALM CXIX. 

despair. He has not lost — he cannot wholly lose — 
this recollection of the forsaken blessing. He cannot 
therefore forbear the cry — " Seek thy servant.'' ' I 
cannot find my way back ; the good Shepherd must 
seek me; once I knew the path; but now that I 
have wandered into bye-paths, it is as if I had never 
known it, or, even if I perceived it, had neither 
power nor inclination to return into it. I have no 
guide but the Shepherd whom I have left.' How 
sweet then to contemplate his office character ; Be- 
hold I, even I, will both search my sheep, and seek 
them out ; as a shepherd seeketh out his flock in the 
day that he is among his sheep that are scattered ; so 
will I seek out my sheep, and will deliver them out 
of all places, where they have been scattered in the 
dark and cloudy day.'*'* ^ 

And cannot I set my seal to his gracious and faithful 
discharge of his office—^* He restoreth my soul 
Or do I want further encouragement in seeking my 
return home ? Let me then remember his own des- 
cription of his tender faithfulness and compassionate 
yearnings over his lost sheep ; not shewing it the way 
back to the fold, and leaving it to come after him : 
but laying it upon his own shoulders and bringing 
it home; all upbraidings forgotten, all recollections 
of his own pains swallowed up in the joy that he hath 
''found the sheep which was lost."^ And when I 
consider too, that the express commission, that brought 
the Shepherd from heaven to earth—from the throne 
of God to the manger, and thence to the garden and 
cross,— was " to seek and to save that which was 
lost ; 4 surely I am emboldened in the spirit of con- 
trition for my wanderings to add the confidence of my 

1 Ezek. xxxiv. 11, 12. - Psalm|sxiii. 3. 

^ Luke XV. 4—6. 4 ly^i^^ ^ix. 1 0. 



VERSE 176. 491 
faith—'* I have gone astray like a lost sheep : seek 
thy servant:' I cannot forbear to plead, that, though 
a rebellious prodigal, I am still - thy servant," thy 
child : I still bear the mark of a child— Though a 
wanderer from the fold, - I do not forget thy com- 
mandmentsJ' I still therefore retain my interest m 
the covenant promise. Nothing can erase thy law, 
which was " written in my mind and inward parts " ^ 
by the finger and by the Spirit of God, as an earnest 
of my adoption— as the pledge of my restoration. 
Thus again I hope to be received as a ''dear'' and 
-pleasant child ^ again to be clothed with "the 
best robe," to be welcomed with fresh tokens of my 
Father's everlasting love,^ and to be assured with a 
blessed interest in the precious promise—" My sheep 
shall never perish, and none shall pluck them out 
of my hand." ^ 

Such, Christian reader, would be the application 
we should make of this verse to ourselves ; and such 
a penitent confession of our backslidings, united with 
a believing dependence on the long tried grace and 
faithfulness of our God, would form no inappropriate 
conclusion to our meditations on this most interesting 
Psalm. We would unite the publican's prayer with 
the great Apostle's confidence : and while in holy 
brokenness of heart we would wish to live and die, 
smiting upon our breast, and saying — " God be 
merciful to me, a sinner " 5_the remembrance of our 
adoption would warrant the expression of Christian 
assurance—" I know whom I have believed, and am 
persuaded that he is able to keep that which I have 
committed to him, against that day." ^ Yet, as it 
regards the experience of David, is there not some- 

1 Heb. viii. 10. ^ Jer. xxxi. 20. ^ Comp. Luke xv. 22, 23. 
^ John x;. 28. ^ Luke xviii. 18. ^ 2 Tim. i. 12. 



492 EXPOSITION OF PSALM CXIX. 

thing striking, and we had almost said, unexpected, 
in the conclusion of this Psalm ? To hear one— who 
has throughout been expressing such holy and joyful 
aspirations for the salvation of his God, such fervent 
praises of his love, that we seem to shrink back from 
the comparison with him, as if considering him almost 
on the verge of heaven— to hear this man after God's 
own heart/' sinking himself to the lowest dust, under 
the sense of the evil of his heart, and his perpetual 
tendency to wander from his God, is indeed a most 
instructive lesson. It gives an accurate view of the 
conflict, that must be sustained to the end in the 
believer's heart, and of the opposite graces which meet 
and flourish there. The highest notes of praise mingling 
with the deepest expression of humiliation, combine 
to form that harmony of service, which ascends like 
pillars of smoke " i with acceptance before God. And 
thus will our Christian progress be chequered, until 
we reach the regions of unmixed praise, where we shall 
no longer mourn over our wanderings, no longer feel 
any inclination to err from our Shepherd's presence, 
no more experience the wretchedness of distance from 
him, or the difficulty of returning to him— where we 
shall be eternally safe in the heavenly fold, to go 
no more out." 2 For he that sitteth on the 

THRONE SHALL DWELL AMONG THEM ; THEY SHALL 
HUNGER NO MORE, NEITHER THIRST ANY MORE, 
NEITHER SHALL THE SUN LIGHT ON THEM, NOR 
ANY HEAT : FoR THE LaMB WHICH IS IN THE 
MIDST OF THE THRONE SHALL FEED THEM, AND 
SHALL LEAD THEM UNTO LIVING FOUNTAINS OF 
WATERS ; AND GoD SHALL WIPE AWAY ALL TEARS 
FROM THEIR EYES."-^ 



^ Can. iii. 6. 



Rev. iii. 12. 



2 Ibid. vii. 15—17. 



INDEX. 



Abba, Father, 471 
Acceptance, 281—283, 354, 356 
Access, way of, 467 

importance of knowing, 

467—469 

known to Old Testament 

believers, Pref. iv. 365 
Acknowledgment of God's faith- 
fulness, 168-170, 199-201 

... . - righteousness, 

374—376, 387, 388 
Actings of faith habitual, 452, 
453 

Activity, spiritual, 82—84 
Adoption, spirit of, 37, 38, 390, 
471 

Advantage of religious vows. 

See Vow^s. 
Advocacy of Christ. See Jesus 

Christ. 

Afflictions, blessings of, 177— 
179, 187—189, 199—201 

-comfort in, 129—131, 

140—142, 155—157, 278— 



Agatha, martyr, 116 note 
Ahithophel, 285 
Ainsworth referred to, 37 n. 
Alleine, Joseph, quoted, 122 n. 
Ambrose quoted, Pref. viii. n. 
Answers to prayer, 67, 171 n. 
Apostacy, guilt of, 102, 103 
Apostles, conduct of, 119, 379, 
380 

Application of the word to our 



case, 33, 100, 129 n. 
Arguments in prayer, 100, 204, 
205 n. 247, 248, 403, 404, 
412 

Ashamed of Christ, 119—121 
Assurance, 13, 14, 110, HI, 
218, 219, 365—367, 453— 

462 

- known to Old Testa- 
ment believers, 99 
—loss of, sad effects. 



112, 455 



280, 389—391 
confidence in^ 



226- 



228 



under. 



Afflictions 
279, 391 



lost, 189 
protracted, 226 
submission under, 200 
support of the word. 
See Word. 

teaching of, 187—189 
gracious uses of, 201 
worldly, 155, 244, 



how maintained, 13, 



14, 366, 457 n. 
Attainments, humble view of, 
14, 15 

Augustine, his conflicts, 79 n. 

conversion, 21 n.32 

prayers, 11 n. 147 

view of prayer, 396 n. 

quotations from, Pref. 

X. n.4 19 n. 225 n. 226 n. 

261 n. 266 n. 336 n. 352 n. 
Scripture fulness, view 

of, 345 n. 
Authority of the word, 237, 257, 

431,432,434—437 



494 



INDEX. 



Awful state of wicked. See 

Wicked. 
— of world. See World 

B 

Backsliding, 355 

—guilt of, 80, 102, 

439 ^ > , 



• loss from, 145 

" return from, 493— 

496 

Bacon, Lord, quoted, 202 n. 

Balaam, referred to, 216 

Basil's prayer, 152 

Baxter quoted, 160 

" 's Christian Directory, 

referred to, 175 n. 
Believers cautioned, 81, 82 

~~ • character, 98, 246 

comfort in affliction 

129-131, 140-142, 389- 

391. See Affliction. 

condition, 313, 314 

■ confession of Christ, 

30—32, 110, 111, 119—121, 

— —confidence, 80, 196— 

199, 248—251, 307—313 
323—326 
— —conflicts, 61—65, 70 
—74, 79, 294—297 

cross, 52, 53, 131, 



Believer^s portion, 146— 14S 

287—289 

— ■ praises. See Praise 

^ prayers. See Prayer 

^ preciousness in si^ht 
of God, 384—386 

■ prospects, 156, 157 

resolutions, 274—278 
security, 233, 248— 



251 



132, 421—423 
■ delight in tlie word, 

32, 33, 243, 336-338, 382 

—384, 390, 438 
■ despised by the world, 

384—386 

— encouragements. See 

Encouragement 



— steadfastness, 80—82 

228, 423—425,448, 450—452 

■ trials of faith, 220— 

223, 326—330 

— walk, 458—465 

Bernard quoted, 87, 118 n. 225 
Beza referred to, 20, 21 
Bondage, spirit of, 443 
Boston quoted, 38 
Bradford's Letters, 405, 406 n. 

— referred to, 391 n. 

Brainerd*s Life, 381, 383, 386 
Brookes's Works, 71 n. 



Cadogan, life of, 400 n. 
Calvin on Psalm csix. quoted. 
Preface ix. n. 

Institutes referred to 



hberty in the ways of 

God, 82—84, 116—118 

love of the brethren, 

160—162,211, 215 

■■ — need of mercv, 330 

331 



persecutions, 52, 131, 

132, 183, 208, 230, 423, 424, 
434 

Behever's plea for mercv, 247 
331 ^ 



172 n. 

Cecil quoted, 306, 346, 347 n 
Character of God. See God 
■ his judgments. See Judg- 
ments 

— -; — - his testimonies. See Tes= 

timonies 
Characteristics of Psalm cxix. 

Pref. viii. 
Charnock quoted, 180, 181 
Choice of the Gospel, 71—78 
478—480 

cost counted, 423 — 425 

— help in making, 479, 480 

~ of Mary, 76 

^ — of Paul, 76, 77, 156 

Christian. See Behever 

love of early, 212 

■ their trials,' 157 

Cicero quoted, 38 
Circumstances of Temptation, 
See Temptation 



4{)5 



^'no Wnrd 1 Corruptions of nature, 5, 20 
Cleansing power of tne ^^ora. \ y^oT i ^^^^ ^^^^^^^ 20 

See Word ooq 
Cleaving to God, 79, 80, 233- 

235,424,425 
CoUatia, people of, 118, liy n. 
Comfort of word, 129— l^i 
Coming of Christ, believer look 

ing for, 368, 446 
Compassion to sinners, l^b— 

138,369,372,425-427 
Condition of the believer. See 

Believer , 
Confession of Christ. See Be- j - 

iiever 



Counsel of Christ. See Jesus 

Christ 

. ^vord, 56—60 

Covenant of grace, emblem of, 
239 

Covetousness, 91 — 94 

— danger of, 93 

- . — . mortification of, 

93 

Cowper, Bp. quoted, Pref. s n. 

\V. quoted, 307 n. 
Cranmer quoted, 436 n. 



CO 



,mfort of, 113, 114 j Creation of man 194 



voung person; 



en- 
couraged to, 120, 121 
Confidence, Christian. See Be- 
liever ^ ^ . 
. distinguished from 

Pharisaical, 324 

- dving hour, 220, 




286, 287,409, 410 

excitement to, 19b 



—199 

Conflict spiritual. See Believer 
Conformity to the world, dOl— 

danger of, 161—163, 

_ deceitfulness of, 304 

Confusion of enemies, prayer for, 



end of, 195, 196 
new, on heart, 5, 6, 195 
works of, 238, 239 
Cro^s ta^en up. See Behever 

of Christ. See Jesus 

Christ 

power of, 261 

Curse of sin, 24 

Cyprian's Epistles quoted, 122, 
'123 n.427 n. 

D 

Danger, temporal, 283, 284 

. of pride, 49—52 

of prosperity, 177, 178 

I . of self-confidence, 311, 

312 



208-210,229,230,332-334 
Conscience, 322 ^ 

Znnfcrupu;;;! ni-1 see conformity 



of walking in our own 
light, 59 

. of worldlv conformity. 



175 277, 476 

seared, 184—186 
— tender, 286, 269 ^ 
unenlightened, 176 
Consideration, 150—152 

God's, of his peo- 
ple, 428 

Contrition, sweetness of, 71, 104 

Conversation, daily, 113 

, religious, 69,112, 

114, 475—477 
Conversion of Jews, 241 

. world, ibid. 

Convictions, immediate attention 

to, 152 — 155 



Daniel in Babylon, 20, 55, 399 
snare laid for, 285 
stedfastness, ibid. 



David, character of, Pref. i. n. 

awe of God's word, 434 

concern for his honour, 



100 



442 



- dying advice to Solomon, 

- dving consolations, 220 

- fear of temptation, 95 

- life endangered, 28§ 

- persecutions, 55, 434 

- praises, times of, 158, 



496 



INDEX, 



^tt^jr"' "^'^^^ ''''l^^ri'':^ CPresident) resolu- 

— promise secured, 430,431 

submission, 200, 201 



tion, 67, 68 n. 
' view of false humility, 



■ — wisdom, 256, 257 

Beadness in prayer, 236, 237 
Beceitfulness of worldly confor 
mity. See Conformity 



385 n. 



view of Psalm cxix. 



Pref. vii. 
Ejaculatory prayer, 171 n. 395, 

Defilement, encouragem'ent un- I Elijah's"zeal, 379 



der, 3 

Delight, spiritual, 90, 91, 484— 
488 

in the ways of God, 37 

—39, 103—105, 121—123 

138—140 
in the word of God. 

See Believer 
Deliverance from trial. 361— 

363 

" from vain thoughts, 

292—298 

of children of Is- 
rael, 135, 430 

- — deluge, record of, 1 35 

Desertion, state of, 16—19 

• causes of, 1 7 

encouragements un- 
der, 18, 19, 327—329 

- Jesus Christ in state 
o"* See Jesus Christ 
Desire, spiritual, 46, 47, 103— 
106, 350—353, 484, 586 

— hindrances to, 47, 48 

object of, 221—224 



Ehsha's faith, 406 
Emblem of the covenant of ?race 
239 

Emptiness of the world, 251 
Encouragement of the believer 
248—251 

" to confession of 

Christ, 120, 121 

under the cross, 52 

deadness of prayer, 



62, 63 



sertion 



105 



Diiference between God's peo 
pie and the world, 313—315 

Diodati quoted, 164 

Divine teaching, 42—44, 66, 85 
—87,164 

byaflaiction, 187 

—190 



- blessing of, 262 

— 264 

Dominion of sin, 356—360 
Dying hour, confidence in. See 
Confidence 

■ preparation for, 287 

E 

Early Christians. See Christian 
rising, 400, 401 



• defilement of sin, 3 
desertion. See De- 
desire spiritual, 104, 
love of the bre- 

under failure of 
memor)^ 245, 246 

to perseverance, 80, 

291 



thren, 162 



70—74 



493, 494 



- under power of sin, 

• to praise, 444—446 
to return to God, 

under vain thoughts, 

295—299 
End of Creation. See Crea- 
tion 

Enemies, prayer for confusion 

of. See Confusion 
Enmity to the people of God, 

208, 209, 248, 249, 405 
Enmity overruled for good, 183 

184, 425 
Enthusiasm, 348, 349,*'484, 485 
Error of heart, 50, 315 
Eternity, nearness of, 289 
Evangelical religion, happiness 
of, Pref. viii. 121—123 



INDEX. 



497 



Example of Jesus Christ. See 
Jesus 

Excitement to Christian confi- 
dence. See Confidence 

Expectations of faith, 40, 41, 83, 
84 

Experience of Old Testament 
believers, Pref. iii. vi. 99, 365 

• identical with New 

Testament, Pref. iii— vi. 450 

of Jacob. See Jacob 

of Job. See Job 

of Jonah. See Jonah 

. . of Paul. See Paul 

— witness of the truth 

of Scripture, 432, 433 
Extension of kingdom of Christ, 
240, 241 

F 

Faith, actings of, 127—129, 

450—453 

ground of, 241 

practical principle, 450, 

455, 456 

trembling, 45 1 

trials of. See Trials 

in the commandments, 177 

promise, 167 — 169, 204, 

205 n. 

, of Old Testament believers, 

Pref. iii. 365 
Faithfulness of God. See God 
False humilit5^ See Humility 

ways, 267—269, 340, 341. 

See Lying 

zeal. See Zeal. 

Favour, sense of 149, 150, 203, 
206, 354—356. See Assur- 
ance 

benefit of, 366 

. means of obtaining, 367 

Fear of God, 98 

- consistent with assurance, 

99, 435 

» fruit of assurance, 320, 

460 n. 

of the judgments of God, 

317—321 
Fellowship, Christian, 160—162, 

211—215 



Fellowship, worldly. See Con- 

formity 
First-love, loss of, 477—480 
Forbearance, Christian, 211— 
214 

Foreknowledge of God. See God 
Forgiveness of God. See God 
Foundation of the word of God. 

See Word 
Franck, Professor, quoted, 36 n. 
Free-will offerings, 281—283 
Fulness of Scripture. See Word 

G 

Gardiner, Colonel, referred to, 
435 

Glover, Martyr, referred to, 
328n. 

God, his character, 374, 375 
faithfulness, 167 — 170, . 

198, 239 

foreknowledge, 240, 409 

— — forgiveness, 66 

goodness, 180 — 182 

mercy, 163—166 

. righteousness, 374, 375 

unchangeableness,238, 239 

ways, 199, 200, 376 

the portion of his ^opie, 

146—148 
Good conscience. See Conscience 
Grace, power of, 9 — 12 
_ quickening. See Quick- 
ening 

seasonable, 404 

Gracious uses of affliction. See 

Affliction 
Greenham, referred to, 171 n. 

293, 294 n. 
Gregory Nazianzen, referred to, 
77 

Grimsh awe's Life referred to, 

274 n. 
Gurnal quoted, 243 n. 

H 

Habitual actings of faith, 452, 
453 

Happiness of rehgion. Pref. iv. 

121—123 
Harmony of Scripture, 10, 11 



498 



INDEX. 



Hatred of sin, 261—269, 340, 

341, 439—442 
Heart tender, 185, 186 
Heaven,, service of, 115, 116, 

421, 446 
Helps to memory, 39 
Henry P. catholic rule of 211, 

212 n. 

— views of Psalm cxix. 

Pref. X. 
Hervey quoted, 255 n. 
Hess, Antistes, referred to, 

345 n. 

Hiding of word in the heart. See 
Word 

Hiding-place, Jesus Christ. See 

Jesus Christ 
Hindrances to light of the 

Gospel, 347, 348 
' — love of the 

brethren, 213, 214 
prayer, 468, 

472 

" progress, 83, 

173 

History of the Bible, importance 

of, 133—136 
Holiness of the word. See 

Word 

Hope, Christian, 222, 223 

fruit of Faith, 450, 451 

• -practical principle, 455, 

456 

• in God's salvation, 450 

—457 

— in God's word, 127— 

129, 222, 223, 301, 401— 
403 

-Jesus Christ the Chris- 
tianas, 308 

Home, Bishop, quoted, 1, 35 n. 
382, 462 

' Hartwell, quoted, Pref. 

ix. 

Horsley, Bishop, quoted, 3 n. 
317 n. 

Howe, quoted, 181 n. 215 
Himiility, 15 

false 385 

Hypocrisy, 12, 13, 215—218, 
340, 341 



I 

Identity of experience of Old 
and New Testaments. See 
Experience 

Illumination, Divine. See Teach- 
ing 

Inability, moral, 10 
Indifference to the wonders of 

the Bible, 344 
Indwelling sin. See Believer's 

Conflicts 
" encouragement 

under. See Encouragement 
Integrity, Christian, 217, 218 
Intercession of the Spirit, 105 
Interest, personal, in Christ, 

107—109 
in the promise. See 

Promises 
Isaiah liii. 244 n. 
Israel, children of, their exodus, 

135, 430 
manna, 432 

J 

Jacob's dying hour, 220 

-experience, 167, 168 

— faith in the promises, 

128 n. 
Jephtha's vow, 275 
Jerome quoted, 185 
Jesus Christ, advocacy of, 298, 

395, 405, 413—416, 467 

government of, 387 

Jesus's compassion for sinners, 

368, 369, 427 

conflicts, 73, 326 

counsel, 326 

— delight in his work, 91 

— example, 3 1,91, 120, 132, 

183, 209, 284, 359, 380, 384, 

386, 399, 400 

perseverance, 81 

prayers, 209, 399, 400, 

426 

— — — preaching, 3 1 

■ reproach, 132, 386 

sufi'erings, 52, 53, 138, 

411 

— support, 73, 142, 407 

sympathy, 227,411— 413 



INDEX. 



499 



Jesus's zeal, 380, 426 

Jesus Christ, the Christian's 

hiding place, 299—301 

—hope, 308 

. portion, 146 — 

148 

shepherd, 

surety, 324—326 

a stranger, 44, 45 

Jewish Expositor quoted, 345 n 

Rabbi, 192 n. 

Jews, conversion of, 241 

reverence for the word of 

God, 436 n 
Joash, his bistorts 430, 431 

Job's affliction, 156, 226—228 

conflicts, 351 

resignation, 200, 228 

stedfastness, 228 

Jonah's experience, 242 

Joseph referred to, 20, 434 

Josiah referred to, 434 

Judas referred to, 216 

Judgment, good, the gift of God 
171 

_— of God, 404 

executed upon the 

ungodly, 315—317, 335 
— subjects of praise, 136, 



Life, spiritual, 206—208, 393, 

486, 487 
Light of the Spirit, 348, 349 
. Word, 270—274, 



345—350 

danger of walking in 



our own, 59 

hindrances to, 847, 348 



Liturgy referred to, 445 
Livy quoted, 118, 119 n. 
Locke quoted, 382 
Love of the brethren. See Be- 
liever 

. law. See Law. 

constraining, 41, 448 



Luther quoted, 104n. 259n. 471 
. . resistance of temptation, 



397 n, 



160, 448 



K 



Keeping the testimonies, 3—5, 

344, 345, 458—465 
Kingdom of Christ, extension of, 

241 

Knowledge spiritual, 170, 171. 
See Understanding 

L 

Law of God, love to, 254—256, 
427—433, 449—453, 465— 

467 

spirituality of, 252, 

253 

Leighton quoted, 229, 230, 249, 
250 

Liberty of the ways of God, 116 
—118 

Lies against the people of God, 
182—184 



at school, 187 

supplication, spirit of, 

397, 401, 402 n. 
Lying ways, 74, 75, 439—442 

origin of, 75 

resistance of, 441, 442 

M 

Man, creation of. See Creation. 
redemption of. See Re- 
demption 
Manton, Dr. referred to, 68 n. 
Martyn H. quoted, 338 n. 344 n. 

383, 426 
Martyrs referred to, 391 n. 
Mar>^'s choice, 76 
Mather, Cotton, quoted, 113, 
114n. 

Matthew, ch. xi. ver. 28, 243 n. 
Meditation, 125, 126, 210, 255 

—258, 402 
Memory, encouragement under 
weakness of, 38, 245, 246 
helps to, 38 



Mercy of God. See God 

believer's need of, 330, 

331 

great, 419 

tender, 206—208, 419 

Midnight employment and sup- 
port, 158, 160 
Milner quoted. 215 n. 
Misery of sin, 24 



500 



INDEX. 



Missionan- encouragements, 241 

feelings, 372, 373 

Monica quoted, 204, 205 n. 
Moral inability-. See Inability 
Morning Exercises referred to, 
213 

Mortification of the flesh, 158 
Moses's zeal, 379 

N 

Name of God, revealed, 140 
support to Jesus from. 

See Jesus Christ 
support to the people 

of God from, 140 — 142 
Nature, corruption of, 5, 20 

renewal of, 5,6 

Nearness of eternity, 287 
■ ' of God to his people, 

405—408 
support to Jesus from. 

See Jesus Christ 
Night-season, comfort for, 141 

144 



Obedience, Christian, 7, 8, 86 

■ happiness of, 142 — 

144 

— obligations to, 7 

Offering, free-will. See Free-will 

Offerings 
Owen, (Dr.) quoted, 20 n. 344 n. 

436 n. 

P 

Paul, his boldness for Christ, 

119, 120 
choice of the gospel, 76, 

156 

Christian Experience, Pre- 
face iii., iv., 352, 353 

ferv^ency of spirit, 82, 351 

pride, temptation to, 51 

stedfastness, 284, 285, 423, 

424 

— — tenderness of spirit, 370 
zeal, 380 

Peace of the Gospel, 446—450 
Pearce, life of, 274 n. 
People of God. See Believer 



Perfection, Christian, 463 n. 
Persecution. See Believer 

comfort under, 229 

231, 389—391 

■ how to abide, 130— 

132 

Perseverance desired, 86 

— encouragement to, 

81, 290, 291 

— importance of, 79, 

—81 

' — - secured, 87, 291, 

424 

— test of, 284—286 

Personal interest in the Gospel. 

See Interest 
Peter's denial of Christ, 435 

determination to confess 

Christ, ibid. 

self-confidence, 312 

Philpot referred to, 391 n. 
Pilgrim's Song, 138—140 

spirit, importance of, 

44—46 

Pleasures of sin contrasted, 122 
Poor, religion of, 258, 346, 347 
Portion of the people of God, 

146—148 
Praise, 27—29, 442—446, 472 
—474 

acceptableness of, 27, 28 

encouragement to, 444 

—446 

poverty of, 27, 28 

— subjects of, 445, 446 

world of, 446 

Prayer, 395—397, 466—472 

answers to, 67, 171 n. 

dulness, reason of, 399, 

397, 468, 469 
ejaculation, 171 n. 395, 

396 n. 

— — object of, 396 n. 
— — seasons of, 399 — 401 

• secret, 469 

example of Jesus in. See 

Jesus Christ 
■ temptation, resisted by, 

397 n. 

Preciousness of the believer. See 
Believer. 



INDEX. 



501 



Pride, hateful to God, 49, 50 1 Rising early, 400 401 
— spiritual, temptation to, 51 Rivet, Dr. referred to, 187 n 
„ . ^ -l.-...^: r^r, Rnthprford's Letters quoted, 



Princes, persecution of, 55, 56, 
434 

Progress, Christian, 82—84 
Promise of Spirit. See Spirit. 

, .— tender heart. See 

Heart 

Promises, interest in, how dis- 
tinguished, 271 — 273 

, — pleaded in prayer, 127, 

129, 204, 205n. 470,471 

Prospects of believers. See Be- 
liever 

Prosperity, danger of, 177, 178 
Psalm xxiii. quoted, 139 
cxix. view of, Pref. viii, 



Rutherford's 
129 n. 167 



Salvation, what it is, 109 
object of desire, 



10 



108 



personal interest in, 

108, 109 

work of. SeeRedemp- 



IX. 



Q 



Quickening grace, 
235—237, 403, 
421,428 



11, 63, 195, 
415, 419— 

,429 

power of the word, 



129—131,244—246 
R 

Rabbi, Jewish, 192 n. 
Record of trials of God's people, 

389, 390 
Redemption, work of, 196, 335, 

342, 343 
Religion, evangelical happiness 
of. Preface viii. 121—123 

of poor. See Poor 

Religious conversation. See Con- 
versation 
Reproach. See Jesus Christ 

of the cross, 52 — 54 

of sin, 100 

Resistance of temptation 



Temptation 
Respect to the word of God. 

See Word 
Reverence to the word. See 

Word 

Righteous character of God. 

See God 
testimonies of 



375, 376, 392, 393 

of the ways of God, 



199, 200 



tion 

Saul referred to, 395 
I Savage, Mrs. Preface x. n. 
I Scott referred to, 164 n. 168 n. 
294 n. 414 n. 
Scriptures, Holy. See Word of 
God 

Scrupulous Conscience. i^ee 

Conscience 
Seared conscience. See Con- 
science 

Seasons of Prayer. See Prayer 
Seasonableness of grace. 
Grace 

Security of the people of 

See Believer 
Self-deception, 16, 37 

dedication, 274 — 278 

. denial, 158, 159 

examination, Pref. iv 

Seneca quoted, 116 n. 
Sense of favour. See Favour 
Servant of God, character of, 98 

^ privilege of, 331, 332 

Service of heaven. See Heaven 
Shadrach referred to, 20, 434 
Simplicity, Christian, 16, 306— 
313 

Sin, aggravations of, 24 

conflict with. See Believer 

curse of, 24 

dominion of, 356 — 360 

misery of, 24 

pleasures of, 122 

hateful to the people of God, 

340, 341,439—442 
Sincerity, godly, 12, 13,339— 341 
Sorrow, godly, 71, 72 
worldly. See Affliction 



See 
God. 



V. 



See 



God, 



502 



INDEX. 



Spirit, intercession of, 105 

light of. See Light 

■ promise of, 3, 4,^69 

Spiritual activity. See Activity 

• bondase, 448 

life. See Life 

light. See Light 

pride. See Pride 

■ understanding. See 

Understanding 
Spirituality of the Law. See Law 
State of the wicked. See \yicked 

■ world. See World 

Stedfastness of the believer. See 
Believer 

Steele's Antidote to Distractions 

quoted, 297 
Stranger, character of Christ as. 
See Jesus Christ 

— ' Christians, 44 n, 

Structure of Psalm cxix. Pref . viii . 
Submission to the word of God, 

257, 258, 393, 431,432 
Sufferings o!" Jesus Christ. See 

Jesus Christ 
Sumner's (Bp.) Evidences quo- 

ted, 11 6 n. 
Support vouchsafed to Jesus 
Christ under sufferings. See 
Jesus Christ 

to people of God under 



Temptation, watchfulness in, 95 
Tender Conscience. See Con- 
science 

heart, promise of. See 



Heart 



trouble, 278 — 281 

from the word of God. 

See Word 

Surrender of all, 118, 119, 277, 
281 

Suretyship of Jesus Christ. See 

Jesus Christ 
Sweetness of the word. See 

Word 



Taylor (Bp.) quoted, 172, 173 n. 
Teaching of God. See Divine 

Teaching 
prayers for, 29, 42, 62, 

85, 164, 170, 182, 332 
Temptation, circumstances of, 

94—97 

resistance of, 96, 



mercies of God. See 

Mercy 
TertulHan quoted, 344 n. 
Testimonies of God, what, 3 
obedience, requi- 
red to, 3, 4, 458—465 

' preciousness of, 

32—34, 287—289 
Thomas a Kempis quoted, 404 
Thoughts, vain. See Vain 
Threatenings of the word, how to 

hear, 273 
Trials of faith, 223—225, 326— 
330 

■ of the world, 156 

deliverance from, 361 — 

363 

Truth of God's word. See Word 
—Gospel, 388 



U 

Unbelief rebuked, 168—170 
Unchangeableness of God. See 

God 

Un defiled way, 1 

privileges of, 2 



131, 397n. 



Understanding, spiritual, 256— 

258, 267 
Unenlightened conscience. See 

Conscience 
Ungodly, duty to, 426, 427 
Upholding grace, 309—314 
Usher, Archbishop, quoted. 
476 n. 



Vain thoughts, 290 

distress of, 293, 294 

thoughts, 

under, 295—299 
Vanity of the world, 94 

resistance to, 95 

Vows, religious, 274—278 
advantages of, 275, 276 



275 



evangelical character of, 



INDEX. 



50S 



W 



Waiting faith. See Trials of 

Faith ^ _ 

Walking before God. See be- 
liever 

Watchfulness, importance of, 95 
Ways of God, liberty of. See 
Liberty 

pleasures of, 121 

]^23 

Ways, lying. See False Ways 

and Lying . 
Weariness in duties consistent 

with grace, 106 
Wholeness of heart, 4, 23, 14y, 

150, 184. See Integrity 
Wicked, character of, 405, 417, 

418 

compassion due to> bee 

Compassion 
^ condition of, 315—317, 

416—418 ^ . , 

Wisdom spiritual. See Spiritual 

Understanding 
Word of God, its apphcation to 

our need, 34, 129 n. 

• cleansing power 

of, 20, 21, 382,384 
Word, delight of believer. See 

Believer 



Word, names of, Preface viii. ix, 
quickening power of. 



See Quickening 

-respect to, 78 

— reverence of, 237, 436 

riches of, 287— 289, 336, 



338 



support of, 129—131. 
241—244, 389 

. . sweetness of, 264—267 

truth of, 408—410, 430 



wonders of, 42—44, 342, 



-433 



343 



Works of creation. See Creation 

. new creation, 5, 6, 195 

redemption. See Re- 
demption 
World, awful stateof, 136—138, 
370 

. compassion due to, 316 

— , emptiness of, 251 

Worldly conformity. See Con- 
formity ^ ^. . 
____ sorrow. See Affliction 

Y 

Young Christian encouraged, 

447, 448 

warned, 421 



ver , 

foundationof, 239-241, _-423 ^^^^^^ addressed. 120, 



408—410 

fulness of, 85, 86, 343 

harmony of, 10, U 

hid in the heart, 24—27 

. ■ holiness of, 260, 261, 382 



—384 



Hope 



hope of believer. See 
light of. See Light 



121 J, u ^ 

Youth— corruption of heart 

from. See Corruption 
Z 

Zeal, Christian, 332-334, 377, 

382, 426, 427,477 
-false, 377, 378 



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